Call for PresentationsThe 20th Annual WA Wetlands Conference 2024

“Celebrating World Wetlands Day”

Join us at our state-of-the-art Centre amidst the Beeliar Wetlands for
The 20th Annual Western Australian Wetlands Conference
that will be held from Thursday, 1st February to Friday, 2nd February 2024

at The Wetlands Centre Cockburn, 184 Hope Road, Bibra Lake, Western Australia 6163


Call for Presentations

The WA Wetlands Conference Steering Committee would like to offer you an exciting opportunity to present at the 20th Annual WA Wetland Conference 2024. We look forward to continuing our tradition of facilitating a meaningful conversation on wetland topics, providing you access to around 200 attendees and the opportunity to deliver a keynote, expert session presentation, poster presentation, case study or workshop. In line with the 2024 Ramsar Theme, we will be introducing for the first time at this conference, the meeting of researchers and those involved in all forms of artistic expression, with the aim of inspiring collaborations in multifaceted environmental art forms. These forums are open for scientists who have a special interest in exploring the intersection of science and the humanities with an aim of developing innovative ways to disseminate key environmental messages.

We aspire to reach out to the cultural leaders and traditional custodians and learn and partake from their accrued knowledge, to provide educational and awareness, raising opportunities by providing exchange between wetland researchers and wetland managers and thus ensure the Conference is meaningful and informative to the widest spectrum of the community.


Objectives of our conference

“To increase knowledge, awareness, understanding and commitment to the conservation, interpretation and management of Wetlands.”
“And, to provide an annual networking forum for organisations and individuals involved in the above”.

Conference Themes

The overarching conference theme follows the Ramsar theme for 2024 of ‘Wetlands and Human Wellbeing’. The two day conference is divided into 4 half-day sessions, which are set to incorporate the following focus areas – Leadership, Reconciliation & Truth-Telling, Sustainability, Partnerships, Humanities and Workshops.


Conference Structure

We recognise that the conservation of wetlands resonates with individuals from various professions and backgrounds. Our conference is designed to be a platform for voices from all sectors, including teachers, artists, activists, Aboriginal custodians, wetland management professionals, researchers, environmental journalists, community leaders, policymakers, urban planners, ecologists, conservationists, and local community groups. Spanning two days, the conference is segmented into half-day sessions. We encourage presentations to address one of the six focus areas highlighted below. In doing so, we aim to create a comprehensive dialogue on wetland conservation, encompassing the perspectives of diverse stakeholders.

01.

Leadership

To increase the knowledge, awareness, understanding, participation, engagement, and commitment to the conservation of wetlands.

02.

Reconciliation & Truth-Telling

To initiate, support, and sustain a proactive partnership with traditional custodians for the conservation of wetlands.

03.

Sustainability

To develop and deliver standards, processes, projects, and/or programs that are environmentally, socially and economically justified.

04.

Partnerships

To initiate and sustain the widest possible proactive participation, support and engagement for the conservation of wetlands.

05.

Humanities

To showcase and explore the role of humanities in fostering the spiritual, scientific, aesthetic, historic and social value of wetlands and their conservation.

06.

Workshops

Workshops demonstrate skills, tools, resources, research or applications that contribute to growing, managing or sustaining wetland ecosystems.

Expectations from Presenters

For the 2024 conference, we are inviting contributions that align with the overarching Ramsar theme and those that resonate with one of our conference focus areas. When submitting abstracts, authors are requested to select the focus area that best encapsulates their presentation's essence. This assists our Conference Steering Committeein allocating accepted abstracts to the most fitting session. Please note, we may adjust session titles to seamlessly integrate accepted abstracts into the conference timetable.

To reiterate – As a criterion of our new submission process, please consider

1. The Ramsar theme for 2024

Wetlands and Human Wellbeing

and also

2. Choose one of the following focus areas under which you'd like your presentation to be evaluated:

Leadership, Reconciliation & Truth-Telling, Sustainability, Partnerships, Humanities or Workshops.

We are keen on presentations that showcase innovative approaches to wetland recovery and resilience practices, demonstrate new understanding of aquatic ecology, exemplify the judicious use of wetlands, and highlight collaborations between government bodies, industries, communities, and educational institutions that amplify positive outcomes for wetlands. Your contribution should deepen our understanding, culture, and heritage related to wetlands and foster a recognition of their significance. Furthermore, we are also interested in current wetland initiatives, schemes, and accomplishments.

Important: In the spirit of fostering a collaborative and immersive experience, we request that all speakers/presenters must register for the conference upon acceptance of your presentation proposal. Your presence throughout the event will greatly enhance interactive discussions and engagement. Our conference format is designed to facilitate meaningful, in-depth, and diverse exchanges among all participants.


Conference Structure

The upcoming conference will unfold over two days, blending keynotes, expert insights, forums, and workshops. Divided into morning and afternoon sessions, our conference will comprehensively cover six focus areas including Leadership, Reconciliation and Truth-Telling, Sustainability, Partnerships, and Humanities. Workshops will be a highlight, providing hands-on experiences and deeper dives into specific subjects. You are welcome to submit more than one presentation for consideration. Besides the presentation, the presenters will also be expected to join a plenary panel session. The four different types of presentations will be as follows.


Keynotes

The four keynote presentations will explore our six conference themes. Scheduled at the very start of each of the 4 half-day sessions on Days 1 & 2, they will set the context for the individual presentations that follow. We seek expressions of interest from experts to provide insights into issues, policies, research and applications surrounding wetlands. Through a one-hour session relevant to the theme, the keynote must aim to raise interest in the conference, set the tone for the program, offer fresh perspectives, inspire possibilities and summarise the core message of the conference.

Expert Presentations

Expert presentations will occur simultaneously in separate rooms and the attendees will be able to sign-up for one of the three concurrent presentations based on their interests. The presentations consist of talks in breakout rooms, on a topic specifically related to one of the themes. Research that is the basis of the expert presentation should be included along with a takeaway for attendees. The presentations should seek to engage participants in learning activities, interactive discussions, and more.

Case Studies

Case study presentations are great avenues to showcase case studies, evidence-based research, solutions-based projects and success stories that would be beneficial to both an academic and a practitioner audience. These succinct 30-minute presentation talks will be based on one of the conference themes. The presentations must be evidence-based, solutions-oriented or have artistic value, to foster and encourage attendees to take up similar initiatives for the wetlands in their undertakings and communities.

Workshops

Workshops will be held in the Afternoon session on Day 2. This session is dedicated to the practices of any aspect of wetland engineering, cultural values and technique applications which will provide an exchange of information with other professionals. Your proposed workshop should aspire to meet the aim of this session—to demonstrate skills, tools, resources, research or applications that contribute to growing, managing or sustaining wetland ecosystems.

Virtual-presentation

Virtual Presentations

If you are unable to attend the conference in-person, but wish to present and are able to do so virtually over the internet, we will consider presentations that can be delivered through Zoom. Typical features such as screen sharing, breakout rooms, chat, and polls will be made available to presenters during live sessions. This facility is currently available for Case study presentation types. Please ensure that you specify this requirement—to present virtually—in your application.


Submissions Portal

Click the link to submit your Expression of Interest or Presentation Abstract/Synopsis.


Submission Deadline

Call for Keynotes, Expert Presentations, Case studies and Workshops –
If you would like to be considered, please submit your Abstract or Expression of Interest before the deadline.

12th November 2023
Sunday

The conference program will be finalized by early December and speakers will be notified of their selection, time-slots and other relevant details. If there is a particular topic that you would like to see addressed at the conference, or any specific speaker(s) that you would like to hear from, your suggestions are welcome. Please contact the organisers at conference@thewetlandscentre.org.au with your inputs by Sunday, 12th November 2023.



The Audience

The conference is intended to bring together a community of volunteers, landowners, students, local and state government officers, industry and private sector environmental officers, educators, academics, community leaders, aboriginal representatives and cultural stakeholders involved with wetland-related work.


Registrations

A call for registrations will be issued mid-October. It will include details of the conference program, type of attendance (in-person/virtual) and the registration fees. Every effort will be made to keep the fees to a minimum to facilitate broad community participation. Presenters will be required to register to attend the conference.

Concessional Registration Fee for Presenters

We are pleased to offer a reduced registration fee of $50 to all presenters.

This fee provides you access to all sessions over two days of the conference including refreshments.
Please note that this is the registration fee per individual presenter.


Photographs and Recordings

Important: Please note that we retain your implicit permission to capture/record and use your photographs and video recordings during the conference.


Conference Proceedings

Papers, presentations, workshop session recordings and takeaways will be collected and made available on this website. You are welcome to review the 2022 Conference Proceedings as an example.


Sponsorship

Expressions of interest are sought for sponsorship of the 2024 conference. Please visit our sponsorship webpage to know more.


For further details
please contact the conference organisers

Beaded-Samphire-WA