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Abstract Submission Guidelines
2015 RIVERSYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW
The International Riversymposium is a leading river management and restoration conference providing an
integrative and interactive forum for crossing disciplines and sectors. It is attended by scientists,
community groups, NGOs, government agencies and corporate representatives from over 30 nations.
The theme for the 2015 International Riversymposium “Healthy Rivers – Healthy Economies” is a wonderful
opportunity to engage with the multitude of businesses and organisations who contribute to and benefit
from the wise management of rivers and their catchments. Water has risen high on the business agenda
and a decline in freshwater quality and quantity was judged the greatest risk facing global stability at the
2015 World Economic Forum. The contribution that healthy rivers make to our economies and wellbeing is
extraordinary, but often taken for granted.
The themes and topics of the 2015 International Riversymposium will encourage knowledge sharing and
debate, and seek to find solutions for a better future. It is only by bringing together all sectors of society
that we can answer the big questions and all play our part in collaborative solutions.
The 2015 Riversymposium deliberately caters for all aspects of river protection, sustainable management,
adaptation and restoration, at all scales. To accommodate this, our invitation to prospective speakers
covers a wide range of topics.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS FOR ORAL, SPEED-TALK AND POSTERS
In 2015 Riversymposium is inviting abstracts for three categories of presentation:
Oral presentations
Oral submissions are invited from authors around the world. All abstracts submitted will be assessed by the
International Riversymposium Program Committee abstract panel. When you submit your abstract please
indicate whether you will also be providing a full paper or powerpoint for publishing with the online
conference proceedings. Oral presentations on the one topic may also include 2 – 3 presenters on the one
subject and/or innovative formats such as Question & Answer sessions. The total allocated time for your
session is 20 minutes, which should allow for 15 minutes presentation and 5 minutes questions.
Posters
Posters provide an excellent opportunity to showcase any of your or your organisation’s innovations and
ideas in a concise and easy to read manner. Posters will be displayed both hard copy and electronically in
the RiverExpo for the duration of the conference. A Poster submission is a great opportunity to share your
work with conference and RiverExpo delegates in an informal and one on one setting. The Riversymposium
is awarding a prize of $1000 for the best poster submitted in 2015, as judged by the Poster panel. To be
eligible for the cash prize, the poster author must attend the Riversymposium. The Poster Award will be
announced during the conference finale.
Speed-talks with posters
MANAGED BY:
INTERNATIONAL RIVERFOUNDATION
A new feature of Riversymposium introduced in 2014 is the nomination to present a poster within the
RiverExpo space with the additional option to make a short (five-minute) oral presentation to conference
delegates. This presentation includes a four minute presentation and one question from the audience. This
is a unique opportunity which allows you to be included in the conference program, and to initiate more indepth conversations with fellow delegates regarding your work. Presenters are asked to prepare one
PowerPoint slide to aid their speed talk.
KEY DATES
24 February 2015 – Call for Abstracts opens
20 April 2015 – Call for Abstracts closes
22 May 2015 - Notification of acceptance into program
30 June 2015 - Early bird registration closes
PROGRAM THEMES AND TOPICS
When submitting your abstract, please select the theme and topic with which it most closely aligns below.
These themes and topics are a guide to the program structure but do not exclude highly innovative or
ground-breaking work on other aspects or topics related to rivers and their management.
Theme 1: Economic benefits of healthy rivers
(the value and function of river systems in economic development and prosperity)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
River transport
Ports and harbours
Sports and recreation
Tourism
Fisheries
Irrigation
Forestry
Mining
Business innovation
Theme 2: Sustainable development of healthy, working river systems
(designing, planning, governing and managing for sustainable development of river systems)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Communities and sustainable development
Environmental flows
Hydropower development
Maintaining ecosystem services
Sustainable institutions and governance
Moving into the Sustainability Development Goals
Theme 3: Restoring rivers and their multiple values
(restoring river system functional and ecosystem services)
a. Multiple benefits of river restoration
b. Urban river restoration and planning river cities
c. Public health benefits of healthy rivers, wetlands and ‘blue space’
Theme 4: Protecting river systems and adapting to change
(managing for change resiliently)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Market-based approaches to water scarcity
Floods, droughts and extreme events
Tropical rivers
River and wetland protection
Risk, insurance and disaster management
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Theme 5: Integrating the management of river basins
(managing competing values and risks to finite resources through integrated river basin management)
a.
b.
c.
d.
Managing large river basins and transboundary issues
Indigenous water rights and voice
Interdisciplinarity, inclusivity and integration
Communities and citizen science
SELECTION CRITERIA
Abstracts will be evaluated on the following criteria:
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Relevance to Riversymposium, its theme, subthemes or topic
Originality (e.g. contribution of new knowledge, practice or insight)
Significance of the work
Audience appeal
How they will contribute to the diversity of presentations at the conference
Demonstration of presentation ability (including facility with English language).
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
When submitting your abstract, you will also be asked to include a short biography of 50 – 100 words so
that Riversymposium delegates can understand your professional or research background, any other
relevant publications or special reason for wanting to attend Riversymposium. This may also be used as
promotional material.
You will be asked to list five (5) key-words that best describe your topic, case study, geography and/or
issues.
FORMAT
Please use the sample [link to template] given to prepare your submission – just overwrite with your own
information, save where you can find it easily and then upload once you have completed the online form.
Title of presentation to appear in program should be limited to 12 words maximum.
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Format: Ms Word File
12-point Times New Roman font or 11-point Calibri font
Author(s) (underline author(s) who will be presenting)
Affiliation / Institution of each author
Email contact address of each author
The abstract should be text only and submitted in English.
ACCEPTANCE NOTIFICATION
You will be notified by 22 May 2015 if your abstract has been accepted. Notification regarding acceptance
of the abstracts will be emailed to the submitting author. The author will then be required to register for
the symposium by 30 June 2015. If the author does not register by this date, the acceptance may be
withdrawn and the offer extended to another applicant.
The number of abstracts received usually outnumbers the program places available. Abstracts submitted
but not selected for Oral presentation may be offered Speed Talks or Posters.
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The Program Committee may seek to edit your work (with your approval), however it is critical that it has
been checked carefully for grammar, spelling and technical correctness prior to submission.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
In accordance with the Privacy Amendment Act 2001, we advise that information provided in completing
the online submission system will be held in a database on a secure server by the Riversymposium
conference managers.
CONDITIONS OF PRESENTING
1. All presenting authors must register by the early-bird deadline of 30 June 2015 to attend at least one
day of Riversymposium and must have paid their fee in full by 31 July 2015. Failure to register and pay
by these deadlines may cause removal of the presentation from the program.
2. All travel and accommodation for presenting authors is at your own expense. The Riversymposium has
no funds available to support attendance of authors submitting abstracts under this Call.
3. All authors must complete the copyright release form found on the online submission system when
submitting their abstract for consideration.
4. Normal delegate cancellation conditions will apply if a presenter cancels.
5. Standard audio visual is provided for all sessions (microphone, lectern, data projector, screen, laptop).
Any additional requirements must be listed on the online submission system at the time of submission.
6. Material presented must be based on the authors own original material.
7. Presentations will be recorded to be made available via the website along with suitable audio visual. If
you do not wish for your presentation to be made available online, please indicate the appropriate
option on the copyright release form when submitting your abstract.
CONTACT DETAILS
If you need any further clarification or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact LOUD events
at:
www.riversymposium.com