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2007 ANNUAL MEETING / 1-5 JULY, PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA - CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR SHORT COURSES, SYMPOSIA, WORKSHOPS, AND ORGANIZED DISCUSSIONS

• MEETING THEMES
• ALL PROPOSALS
• SHORT COURSES
• SYMPOSIA, WORKSHOPS, AND ORGANIZED DISCUSSIONS
• Proposals for Symposia
• Proposals for Workshops and Organized Discussions

The 21st annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, One World, One Conservation, One Partnership, will be held from 1-5 July 2007 in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) welcomes proposals for short courses, symposia, workshops, and organized discussions.

Proposals for short courses must be submitted by 13 November 2006. The LOC expects to select these sessions by early December 2006. Proposals for symposia, workshops, and organized discussions must be submitted by 16 October 2006. The LOC expects to select these sessions by 8 December 2006. Submit all proposals to 2007@conbio.org as Microsoft Word documents.

MEETING THEMES

The themes of the 2007 annual meeting emphasize the need to move away from national, regional, and disciplinary territoriality in support of a joint effort to conserve the world's biodiversity by uniting towards a common goal.

Partnerships for effective conservation. Biodiversity conservation is dependent on partnerships at all levels, ranging from international agreements to co-management arrangements with local communities. The most effective implementation often occurs at informal levels involving interest groups, NGOs, academic institutions, and management agencies. Topics could include current and future implementation challenges of conservation, and how these might be overcome.

Global change and conservation challenges beyond boundaries. Global effects such as climate change challenge the current temporal and spatial paradigms in conservation. For example, biogeographic, political, and management boundaries may be realigned over time and thus challenge the ongoing utility of current formal and informal conservation areas. Discussions on new approaches to conservation planning and implementation are invited, taking cognizance of large scale and long-term effects of global change.

Linking freshwater, marine, and terrestrial conservation. Terrestrial, marine, and freshwater systems form a network of life, with threats, resources, and organisms moving among them. Due to this interconnectedness, impacts on biodiversity cannot be considered in isolation and are often more noticeable away from the point of impact or over time. Non-human induced factors shape populations and communities, which in turn respond by evolving or adapting in order to deal with change. The challenge is to quantify these changes in communities, populations, or species across these various systems in order to appropriately protect biodiversity.

Interactions between biodiversity and society. Biodiversity adds value to society by providing ecosystem goods and services and contributing to human survival and well-being. How does resource use and economic, social, and cultural pressure influence the balance between maintaining natural capital, biodiversity, and societal benefits? What approaches and innovations are required to ensure sustainable delivery of these services to society at large and into the future? This is a wide-ranging theme and presentations could investigate ethical perspectives, highlight ideas for and application of new technologies, or discuss approaches to awareness, education, and advocacy.

ALL PROPOSALS

All short-course instructors and participants; organizers of symposia, workshops, and organized discussions; symposium speakers; and other invited participants must register for the meeting by the early registration deadline of 16 March 2007.

It is the responsibility of organizers of short courses, symposia, workshops, and organized discussions to obtain funding for their own expenses and those of their invited speakers or invited participants. The LOC is not responsible for obtaining funds to support speaker travel to the meeting and cannot guarantee that any support will be available. Preference may be given to proposals for which organizers can demonstrate that funds are likely to be available. We can offer free meeting registration to a maximum of two instructors per course.

As a general rule, no individual may give more than one presentation at the meeting. Please ensure that your invited speakers have not accepted multiple invitations.

SHORT COURSES

Preference will be given to proposals that deal with tools or concepts that are relevant to one or more of the four major themes of the meeting and advance the goals of SCB. Short courses should be aimed at professional skills development.

Budgets for short course proposals, including costs, anticipated fees, and sponsorships, should be devised on the break-even principle, but include a reasonable contingency.

Individuals may not submit more than one proposal.

Short courses will be scheduled before the meeting. One-day courses will take place on 1 July 2007. The longer format 4-5 day courses will take place from 25-30 June 2007 (scheduling as per logistics and travel constraints, but dates finalized on course acceptance).

Proposals must not exceed 1200 words and must include the following information.
1. Short-course title
2. Instructor(s) name, affiliation, and complete contact information
3. Length of the course: one-day or 4-5 day course (justify longer course)
4. Description of the course content and explanation of how it relates to one or more of the themes of the meeting and the goals of SCB
5. Minimum and maximum number of students that can be accommodated
6. Whether any special instructional or audiovisual equipment beyond that which the instructor(s) will provide is needed
7. An itemized budget (in dollars) for the course and a description of any funds available to cover costs. In your budget, include the space required (note that we may have to make use of external facilities, in which case there may be a cost related to the venue) and that internet access will cost approximately $30 per computer (laptop, desktop, or workstation). Please be sure to include all budget items. Do not include any stipend for the instructor(s).

SYMPOSIA, WORKSHOPS, AND ORGANIZED DISCUSSIONS

Preference will be given to proposals that relate to one of the four major themes of the meeting. We encourage organizers to address unifying conceptual issues (ecological, social, or both) rather than presenting a series of stand-alone case studies. Topics should differ from those presented at recent SCB annual meetings (see www.conbio.org/2006 for lists). Individuals may not submit more than one proposal.

We also encourage organizers to think carefully about the format that best meets their goals. Symposia tend to present information to an audience, with limited opportunity for interaction. Workshops, whether geared toward students or professionals, are more interactive and often have an educational component. Organized discussions are participatory and may be relatively informal.

Symposia will be included in the main scientific program. Workshops and organized discussions will be scheduled to have minimal conflict with symposia and contributed paper sessions (the day immediately before the meeting or during lunch).

The selection of symposia, workshops, and organized discussions is a highly competitive process and we encourage proposals from individuals / groups involved in cutting edge conservation science who can demonstrate an alignment with the goals of SCB.

The LOC will accept proposals for two-hour (up to eight presentations) or four-hour (up to 16 presentations) symposia. Presentation length must be in multiples of 15 minutes (e.g., 15 minutes or 30 minutes) so that the timing of symposium presentations can be coordinated with contributed paper sessions. The last 15 minutes of the symposium may be left open for discussion, thereby reducing the number of presentations by one.

Proposals for Symposia

Proposals must not exceed 1200 words and must include the following information.
1. Symposium title
2. Organizer(s) name, affiliation, and complete contact information, including email address
3. Length (two or four hours)
4. Proposed theme and justification (why the topic is appropriate and significant for presentation at One World, One Conservation, One Partnership)
5. Expected outcomes and, if appropriate, plans for communication of results
6. A tentative list of speakers, presentation titles, and whether each speaker has agreed to participate
7. Whether necessary funding for organizer and speaker expenses has been secured (for example, are funds available for speaker travel, other expenses?)

Proposals for Workshops and Organized Discussions

Proposals must not exceed 1200 words and must include the following information.
1. Workshop or discussion title (specify whether workshop or discussion)
2. Organizer(s) name, affiliation, and complete contact information, including email address
3. Length and preferred location in program (pre-meeting or lunch). Pre-meeting workshops and discussions may be proposed for a maximum of eight hours. Lunch sessions may be a proposed for a maximum of 1.5 hours.
4. Proposed theme and justification (why the topic is appropriate and significant for One World, One Conservation, One Partnership)
5. Expected outcomes and, if appropriate, plans for communication of results
6. Format of workshop or discussion and any special logistic requirements (e.g., a room with internet access)
7. Maximum number of participants that can be accommodated
8. Method of selecting participants (invited, open registration, or a combination). If any participants will be invited, include a tentative list of individuals and indicate whether each has agreed to participate.

For more information, contact
Local Organizing Committee SCB 2007
Centre for African Conservation Ecology
Department of Zoology, PO Box 77000
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Port Elizabeth 6031
+27 41 504 4278, FAX +27 41 504 1778
2007@conbio.org; www.conbio.org/2007

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