Submit an Abstract – old

Abstracts now closed!

Thank you for helping co-create the 22nd International Riversymposium to be held in Brisbane 20-24 October 2019!

We invite you to submit an abstract under the theme “Resilient Rivers” in recognition of the urgent need for our rivers and communities to quickly recover from extreme events and return to a healthy state.

Based on your feedback, in 2019 the program will have a greater emphasis on learning and networking to enable long lasting, remarkable alliances.

Our Learn – Inspire – Transform sessions will be interactive and focus on solutions so you’ll have greater knowledge and skills to be change maker to benefit your river, wetland or and basin:

Learn from our Riverprize Alumni – How did they achieve best practice?
Inspire each other with stories of success, challenges and celebration.
Transform the knowledge you learned into solutions and strategies that will work and be applied when you return home.  

Please take a moment to review the topics and familiarise yourself with the guidelines and requirements before submitting.

2019 Topics

Integrated river basin management to improve river resilience 
Example: Managing large transboundary river basins; managing surface and groundwater interactions, total water cycle management of urban rivers; water-energy-food nexus; equitable water resource management. 

Applied science for river resilience 
Including: Science for policy making; aquatic biodiversity; river and wetland processes; modelling and adaptive management, fish passage and connectivity; evidence-based solutions for river recovery, WASH and public health; social and economic benefits of resilient aquatic ecosystems; valuing river ecosystem services; monitoring, evaluating and reporting improvements. 

Traditional knowledge and cultural heritage supporting ecosystems and communities 
Including: Indigenous / first nations water; traditional knowledge; social benefits and livelihoods; preserving cultural heritage. 

Environmental flows to enhance river resilience 
Including: Freshwater ecosystem conservation and management, e-flows science, monitoring and assessment; cultural flows, e-flows costs and benefits; e-flows implementation and adaptive management; e-flows policy and law; social and cultural benefits; protection and restoration of free-flowing rivers.  

Rivers by design – from restoration to resilience 
Including: Restoring freshwater ecosystems, river basin planning; basin master plans; water resource planning; water sensitive urban design; rewilding rivers/natural channel design; nature-based solutions for climate change. 

Communicating science and resilient communities 
Including: Communicating to multiple disciplines; visualising data; story telling; influencing policymakers; river report cards; river art; river celebrations and festivals; educating youth; sharing knowledge; ecotourism. 

Governance, Leadership and Financial Mechanisms to support resilience 
Including: science to policy; legislation, governance and institutional arrangements underpinning river recovery and resilience; river basin scale decision making; influencing decision-making; public-private partnerships; impact investment, river management/resilience funds, corporate social responsibility. 

Water security, climate change and natural disasters – building community resilience 
Including: Water source protection; planning for and recovering from extreme events (floods/droughts/natural disasters); community preparedness; community science and participatory planning; capacity-building; ethical principles (gender; diversity and stewardship); building resilient infrastructure, cities and communities 

Achieving the sustainable development goals 
Including: Clean, accessible water for all; water & rivers – more than SDG6; leadership driving change; achieving gender equality, women and water. 

Other 
Tell us what you want to speak about.

Abstract guidelines

Before you submit, here are the guidelines to consider:  

• Abstracts must be no longer than 300 words to express your interest in giving an oral presentation (12-15 minutes).  
• Submissions on any topic related to the conference theme will be considered. However, please refer to our list of topics for guidance.  
• Submissions must include a short presenter introduction (up to 100 words). This will be used by the session chair to introduce you at the conference so please make it concise and relevant to your topic and area of expertise.  
• Abstracts must be submitted by  Friday, 15 March 2019.  
• Abstracts submitters will be notified by the end of April.  
• The Symposium Program Committee reserves the right to accept or reject any submission.  
• Presenters must arrange their own funding and visas to attend. If required, a letter of invitation for visa purposes can be provided. Note, it can take weeks for your travel visa to be granted so please begin this process as soon as possbile.
• Presenters must register and pay to confirm attendance by  Thursday, 30 May 2019 or we reserve to right to withdraw our offer.   

What are we looking for?  

Abstract reviewers will consider the following:  

1. Relevance to the theme “Resilient Rivers”  Demonstrate originality or novelty of the work proposed to be presented.  
2. Advancement  Demonstrate a contribution to the topic – presenters should explain how their paper will contribute to improving global knowledge  
3. Demonstrated results  Demonstrate results or lessons learned, indicating that the work has been, or is nearly, completed.  
4. Quality  Effectively communicate achievements or lessons learned. Ensure the reviewer will understand the background of the issue/s and the objectives of the presentation.  
5. Ability to communicate  Give the reviewer confidence in your ability to give a presentation to an international audience by ensuring the abstract is concise and coherent.