• Abstracts must contain original work that has no prior ownership or copyright restrictions.
• Abstracts that do not contain sufficient information will be rejected.
• All abstracts must be prepared in accordance with the guidelines provided. Incomplete or incorrect submissions will be returned to the author and must be re-submitted in the correct format to be considered for inclusion in the program.
• If the abstract is selected, consent is provided for content (submission, presentation slides, video; audio recording and photos) to be used and published by AAEE 2023 including being provided to delegates of AAEE 2023
• Submission of your abstract/s implies you have read, understood and complied with the Terms and Conditions as outlined on this website.
• Abstracts must be submitted by the presenting author who should complete all fields on the online submission form.
• The person submitting the information must be one of the presenters.
• The person submitting the abstract should be the nominated main contact of your abstract. All correspondence relating to the submission will be directed to this person, and they should in turn distribute to any other co-presenters.
• If you are submitting more than one abstract a separate submission must be made for each one.
• Presenting authors must register to attend the conference for a minimum of one full day of the conference on which they are presenting.

Please read below for further context on these themes and the proposed topics for discussion.

Conference Theme – Listen, Learn, Transform

‘Geera’, the traditional Dharawal country name for Mt Keira, means the learning mountain.

In the shadows of Geera as our backdrop, we can gather from all over Australia to listen to country, empower, learn and transform our future together.

Our intention is to turn this conference moment into a sustainability movement by challenging old thinking and fostering innovation, collaboration, resilience and genuinely effective action. If you have a program, project or research that does just that, then we want to hear about it!

During the submission process you will be asked to nominate one of the following session themes you would like your presentation to be considered for: 

• Listen
• Learn
• Transform

Please read below for further context on these themes as the proposed topics for discussion:

• Listening to Country
  Listen to Country and First Nations Peoples, listen both inwards to ourselves and outwards to others and the Earth, listen to the quieter marginalised voices and listen to children and youth. Listening can promote well-being for all and experiential engagement with the natural environment.

• Learning Together
  Share engaging, innovative and transformative pedagogies, learn about curriculum through an interdisciplinary lens, e.g. science, citizen science, geography, First Nations People, the arts and literature and share empowering teaching approaches underpinned by student voice.

• Transforming the Future
  Be transformed by stories of advocacy and action, be transformed by critically reflective thinking, be a leader transforming others and regenerating the Earth, transform the way society operates.

You don’t need to be an expert on these themes to submit an abstract – this guide applies to all projects related to social and environmental issues and is being used as a guide for the conference structure. All you need to do is develop an Abstract for your chosen environmental education program, project or research. Some examples of relevant presentation topics / issues include:

• Optimism for a changing world
• Systems approach and resilience theory
• Showcasing community-led examples
• Education as transformative citizenship
• Future’s Thinking
• Exploring values-based communication
• Recognition of Aboriginal knowledge
• Respectful inter-generational collaboration
• Reconnection for agency of nature
• Technologies and education for sustainability
• Valuing an informed, diverse world

Presentation Types

Oral Presentation

• Papers should communicate empirical research, investigations and studies, and/or professional/educational trends including (delete – showcasing experience in) field-based best practice, project work and/or implementation strategies.
• Rooms are equipped with a computer and multimedia projector. If additional equipment is needed, it must be previously requested and is subject to availability. Additional AV can be requested during the abstract submission process.
• Abstracts not selected for Oral Presentation may be held as back-up presentations.
• Final presentations are to be submitted 7 days prior to the conference for conference preparations and pre-loading.

Hands on Workshop

• Workshop presenters may choose to provide either a 60 minute or 120 minute interactive practical, hands-on workshop. 
• Workshop presenters must provide an outline of the structure/plan for the session, indicating clearly how they will minimize presenter talk and maximise participant hand on experience and discussion/interaction.
• Papers should communicate empirical research, investigations and studies, and/or professional/educational trends including showcasing experience in field-based best practice, project work and/or implementation strategies.
• Rooms are equipped with a computer and multimedia projector. If additional equipment is needed, it must be previously requested and is subject to availability. Additional AV can be requested during the abstract submission process.
• Workshop outlines will be made available online to conference attendees after the conference.
• Final presentations are to be submitted 7 days prior to the conference for conference preparations and pre-loading.

Review Process

• The Conference Program Committee (CPC) will be responsible for evaluating abstracts.
• The CPC may accept or reject abstracts and their decision is final.
• Every effort will be made to accommodate the author(s) presentation preference however the CPC reserves the right to allocate the presentation to best suit the program and the overall balance of content.
• Final program streams will be adjusted as necessary depending on current and pressing topics and in line with the range of abstracts received.
• All abstracts will be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers for content, relevance, suitability and research/practice value before being accepted or declined. It is assumed the quality of the abstract is indicative of the quality of the final presentation.

Evaluation Criteria

Abstracts will be reviewed by the Program Committee according to the evaluation criteria below:

• Aim of presentation (which is clearly articulated)
• Focus, relevance & suitability for this conference
• Scholarly contextualisation
• Methods/Approaches clear and appropriate
• Suitable discussion/reflection of research or practice clearly communicated

Notification to Authors

All successful presenters will be notified by Friday, June 23 with an acceptance letter via email (so please check your junk / spam mail folder after this date in case it is misdirected). Full instructions for accepted presenters will be forwarded on the acceptance of the abstract. 

Please note, the details provided via the submission form should be for the nominated main contact of your abstract. All correspondence relating to the submission will be directed to this person, and they should in turn distribute to all co-presenters.

All presenters must register for the Conference and pay the appropriate registration fee by 28 July, 2023. It will be assumed any presenter not registered by this date has withdrawn their abstract from the program.