The main aims of the workshop included reviewing the most important recent developments in birational geometry, relating to the explicit methods and toric varieties and degenerations on the constructions side, and Chow groups, derived categories and the Grothendieck ring of varieties on the obstructions side, and subsequently initiating the discussion between experts, leading to further progress in the two neighboring fields (constructions and obstructions). The workshop was dedicated to William Edge (born 8 November 1904) who pioneered research in algebraic geometry in the UK and worked at the University of Edinburgh for most of his career
The schedule was devised to allow the audience to access experts in both fields, as it is rare for a mathematician to be interested in a singular approach to their research. The workshop brought together leading experts in the field with younger researchers. The organisers had a strong commitment to considering the gender balance of their speakers and ten of the 21 speakers were women.
Claire Voisin, Collège de France gave the Clay Mathematical Institute lecture Decomposition of the diagonal and nilpotence
