National Landcare Conference 2012 - Sydney

Landcare – The future in our hands

3 to 5 September 2012
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

Call for abstracts

On behalf of the community the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is pleased to invite submissions of abstracts for presentations in the thematic concurrent sessions of the conference or for a poster display at the conference. This year’s conference will be held during Landcare week on 3-5 September 2012 at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

We are seeking 64 presentations for the concurrent sessions that highlight innovation in natural resource management practices. The conference theme for 2012 is ‘Landcare- the future in our hands’. With a growing interest in and concern for sustainable living and food security, the Landcare community is at the forefront of helping to ensure that Australia can move confidently towards a smart and resilient future for agricultural and the environmental.

We are also seeking poster displays. These can be summaries of Landcare or natural resource management projects that illustrate the outcomes and lessons from a project that you would like to share with other conference delegates.

Online paper submission guidelines 

Authors are invited to submit an abstract of their paper (no more than 500 words) which concisely outlines the aims and content of the presentation.

All abstracts are to be submitted electronically in accordance with the guidelines below and should be submitted by Tuesday 12 June 2012. Authors may submit more than one paper, but the program is limited and your submission(s) may not be accepted. 

As a potential presenter you are invited to speak on topics that you are passionate about and want to share with delegates. An online survey has been conducted and themes that people would like to hear about include:

• Sustainable agriculture – eg: innovative farm practices
• Biodiversity conservation
• Landcare engagement – e.g. youth, Indigenous etc
• Climate change and carbon
• Future of Landcare
• Policy and programs
• Stories you would like to tell - case studies sharing what did and didn’t work
• Community resilience and action - e.g. Landcare, Coastcare, Bushcare, International Landcare
• Urban issues
• Other - if there is a topic you would like to present or that you think is not covered by the above.

Respondents to the survey also highlighted an interest in presentations that give examples of innovation, new and different practices, applying science, lessons learnt and what practices work well and what doesn’t. Presentations across the themes that highlight international experiences are also encouraged.

In reviewing abstracts the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and its Conference Steering Committee will be looking to have a balance of ideas and topics across the themes. The final themes that will be determined for the conference will be guided by the abstracts submitted and the overall final conference program.

Guidelines for abstracts

The lodgement of an abstract does not indicate automatic inclusion in the Conference Program.  All authors/presenters must agree with the content of the submitted abstract and have consented to authorship and accuracy of all information and referencing. For accepted abstracts the author(s) provide the right for their formatted presentation or poster including any photos to be used by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. All accepted abstracts and papers will be made available on the conference website and be provided to delegates attending the conference.

The receipt and acceptance of abstracts will be acknowledged to the person submitting the abstract.  Further communication will be with the submitting author only unless otherwise directed.  Those abstracts that are successful will be required to submit the final paper by 27 July 2012.

Once you have created your individual Speaker Portal via this website, please select the 'Submit Abstract' link and follow the prompts to upload your paper.  You will be instructed to browse your computer and upload your abstract as a Word document.

All abstracts should include the following information, style and order:

• Abstracts must be submitted using Microsoft Word only
• All abbreviations must be spelt out
• Check spelling and grammar thoroughly

The abstract should cover a brief description of the initiative/topic, the objective, method/approach, key findings and conclusions. Use sentence case. 

Presentation type

Please indicate if you wish for your abstract to be accepted as a 'Presentation' or displayed as a 'Poster' (it is at the Committee's discretion which papers are accepted for presentation).

The thematic concurrent sessions will be timed and facilitated. The allocated speaking time for presentations will be 15 minutes with a short question and answer session at the conclusion of the presentation. Presenters will participate in a panel at the end of the session as part of a facilitated discussion with the delegates attending the session.
Presenters selected for a concurrent session will be granted a one day conference pass. These presenters will then be responsible for their own travel, accommodation and incidentals in respect to attending the conference.

Submitting your abstract

Please complete the call for abstracts form no later than Tuesday 12 June 2012 for assessment by the Conference Steering Committee.

For more information about the National Landcare Conference call for abstracts contact:

National Landcare Conference Secretariat - Andrea O’Sullivan on 07 3255 1002