Call for Poster Presentations

Submit Your Poster

ABOUT THE SUMMIT

Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) proudly presents the 2022 Coastal and Estuarine Summit with support from Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. (CRCL). This event will bring together the coastal restoration and management communities to explore issues, solutions, and lessons learned in their work. In the context of climate change, adaption, resilience and building inclusive coastal communities transcend our collective work, the Summit will address all aspects of coastal and estuarine restoration and management, including the Great Lakes and international locales. These topics are crucial as coastal communities pursue new, more robust strategies to manage, protect, and restore their resources in a changing climate and the need to support all community members. Ensuring these resources and the communities that rely on them are resilient now and into the future will be a particular focus.

ABOUT RESTORE AMERICA’S ESTUARIES

RAE is a nonprofit dedicated to the protection and restoration of bays and estuaries as essential resources for our nation. RAE has also been a leader in the economics and valuation of estuaries, blue carbon, living shorelines, national advocacy, and a wide variety of coastal restoration issues. The ten RAE alliance organizations are leaders in regional efforts around the country to restore bays, estuaries, and coasts. They are:

  • American Littoral Society
  • North Carolina Coastal Federation
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation
  • Save The Bay – Narragansett Bay
  • Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
  • Save The Bay – San Francisco Bay
  • EarthCorps
  • Save the Sound
  • Galveston Bay Foundation
  • Tampa Bay Watch

THE HYBRID CONFERENCE MODEL

We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in New Orleans. However, the 2022 Summit will employ a hybrid meeting model to create a dynamic in-person event and also provide access to content for those unable to travel to New Orleans. Presenters and attendees will be able to access the core content through the following formats:

  • In-person Presentations – Presentations delivered live in New Orleans will also be pre-recorded and available online to all attendees for later viewing.
  • Live-Streamed – Plenary sessions and select events will be live streamed as well as recorded and available online.
  • Virtual Presentations – Submissions of papers and posters by those unable to travel will be included as pre-recorded content and available for asynchronous viewing.

All presenters are required to provide a recorded version of their presentation prior to the meeting. The recorded presentations will be available to all in-person and virtual attendees, during and after the meeting. Presentation guidelines and additional instructions will be provided in future correspondence.

While we will continue to plan for an in-person conference, we are monitoring COVID guidelines carefully. Contingency planning is in place should the meeting need to be entirely virtual. We will provide updates on the Summit website.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We are only accepting poster proposals at this time. The fate of New Orleans and other south Louisiana communities depends on successful coastal management and restoration, as does the health of the Gulf of Mexico, making this the perfect location for the 2022 RAE Summit. Given this context, RAE is calling for proposals for sessions that will provide both practical and inspirational help and guidance to our community in meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities for coastal restoration in the years to come.

  • Dedicated Session – Session chairs should propose 5 presenters in a 90-minute session. Dedicated sessions must include multiple viewpoints, diverse organizations and inclusive representation of stakeholders. Submissions must be made by the proposed session chair and must identify all proposed presenters. Session chairs may propose themselves as one of the presenters in the session, although the preference is for five presenters in addition to the chair.
  • Alternative Format Session – We encourage dynamic, creative, and interactive 90-minute events in other formats. Examples include but are not limited to: “lightning” rounds with eight to ten presenters; debate or “poetry slam” style interactions; crowdsource solutions; tool demonstrations; artistic or cultural presentations; or semi-permanent art installations (which won’t be bound the 90-minute time limit).
  • Single Presentation – Propose one 15-minute presentation within one of the Summit focus areas. The Program Committee will organize selected presentations into cohesive 90-minute concurrent sessions and assign session moderators. If you would like to propose more than one presentation, you must submit each proposal separately.
  • Poster – Posters will be displayed throughout the Summit, with dedicated time for poster presenters to interact with participants. To the degree possible, posters will be displayed by focus area. If you would like to submit more than one poster, you must submit each proposal separately. Please note that only one poster per presenter will be accepted.

Dedicated sessions are strongly encouraged. In all formats, we encourage participation from underrepresented perspectives, early career professional, and student proposals that bring the depth and breadth of the coastal community to the forefront.

FOCUS AREAS

Climate change, adaption, resilience and building inclusive coastal communities transcend our collective work. RAE and the Program Committee seek proposals that relate to the Summit focus areas. Please keep in mind that the term “coastal” extends to the Great Lakes ecosystems and their management, as defined by the Coastal Zone Management Act. We encourage international submissions, as well. Examples of past sessions can be found here.

Focus Area 1. America’s Gulf Coast

Given the location of the Summit in New Orleans, it is natural for the Gulf region to be of particular interest – home to major estuaries, centers of commerce, renowned recreational centers, and vibrant and diverse habitats and communities. This focus area will provide an opportunity to understand projects that are occurring in the Gulf and how the management and restoration communities are moving forward to protect and restore this region, and how lessons from the Gulf may be applicable nature-based infrastructure projects throughout the country

Focus Area 2. Economy, Finance, and Investment

This focus area will explore how the coastal management and restoration community can – and must – evolve its current approach to valuing ecosystem services like storm resilience, water filtration, blue carbon, fostering the blue economy, climate resilient infrastructure, insuring assets, how programs are financed, and the rise of socially responsible investing. The goal is for attendees to learn about new perspectives and approaches that will sustain vibrant coastal communities and leverage funding in innovative ways, particularly as it relates to gaining private sector support and investment.

Focus Area 3. Science and Technology

Our work must be grounded in sound science and the responsible use of technology. For programs, projects, and policies to be effective practitioners, scientists, planners, and decision makers must have access to the best science, most accurate data and best technology available. This focus area captures two areas: the latest scientific research and modeling, and the technology and tools that support the science.

Focus Area 4. Planning, Policy, and Issue Advocacy

Recent federal policy has highlighted the important role of coasts and oceans for achieving climate change and environmental goals. The topics in this focus area will provide attendees important information on policies, regulations, laws, and approaches that have or may affect restoration and management and allow a forum in which to discuss critical legal and policy decisions that impact restoration and management.

Focus Area 5. Coastal Restoration and Resilience

With the increasing threat of climate change and persistent coastal development, this focus area offers presenters the opportunity to share their success stories on the nuts-and-bolts of coastal restoration methods that foster resilience and regenerate habitats, with special emphasis on nature-based methods. Realizing what did not work is often as critical as identifying what did, so “lessons learned” sessions are especially encouraged.

Focus Area 6. Coastal Management

This focus area will highlight the unique topics within the coastal management realm. These sessions will provide a forum for discussing challenges such as sea level rise and climate change adaptation, and exploring solutions for the hands-on practice and implementation of coastal management. “Lessons learned” are strongly encouraged.

Focus Area 7. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Justice, and Accessibility

While this theme crosscuts the entire agenda, there is an ongoing need to build the community’s capabilities on this topic. This focus area highlights efforts to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental justice in the coastal sector to ensure the costs and benefits of coastal management are equitability distributed. This includes issues of staffing within the sector, as well as the communities we work with and among.

Focus Area 8. Communication, Marketing, and Education

Communication, marketing, outreach and education are all critical aspects of fostering a citizenry that is excited about, and supportive of, coastal and estuarine restoration and management. Using a wide variety of techniques is essential to reaching audiences and sustaining change. Proposals are sought that explore ways of engaging and forming meaningful partnerships with different constituencies to drive social and behavioral change.

Focus Area 9. Water Resources

Water resources are the backbone of our coastal and estuarine ecosystems yet are some of the hardest to manage. The very nature of water creates unique obstacles, ranging from cross-jurisdictional issues to the conveyance of persistent pollutants, plastics and nutrification. This focus area will highlight the wide range of issues related to water resources and the implications for coastal management and restoration, stormwater management, fishing, aquaculture and recreation.

Focus Area 10. Disaster Planning, Response, and Recovery

Disasters and their impacts on coasts and coastal communities are receiving increased attention commensurate with the damage they are causing, particularly on underserved communities. This focus area includes ways communities are working to plan for, respond to, insure, and recover from disasters.

Focus Area 11. Large-Scale Management and Restoration

To address climate change, many large-scale projects are being considered. Large-scale restoration and management require different, and sometimes unique, approaches and tools to succeed, and because of their scale have unique risks. This focus area delves into how large-scale approaches are effective, including the role of regional ocean partnerships.

Focus Area 12. Other

We welcome other ideas that relate to the protection, management and restoration of estuaries, bays and coasts.

INSTRUCTIONS

You will be required to provide full contact information for all presenters and the session chair (if submitting a dedicated or alternative format session). We are only accepting poster proposals at this time.

Selection Process and Criteria

The Program Committee will review proposals in conjunction with RAE. Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Significance to the restoration and/or coastal management communities.
  • Applicability and transferability to other projects and locales, particularly with respect to “lessons learned;”
  • Relevance to Summit focus areas.
  • Interconnectivity between restoration and/or management on multiple scales and regions.
  • Insight on upcoming restoration and/or coastal management trends and science.
  • Multi-stakeholder participation, underrepresented perspectives, early career professional, and presenters that that bring to forefront the depth and breadth of the coastal community.
  • Thoroughness of proposal.

The selection process is competitive and not all submitted proposals will be accepted into the Summit Program. Oral presentations not selected for inclusion in the Summit Program will receive strong consideration for inclusion in the Poster Session.

Presenter/Chair Responsibilities

Once a proposal has been accepted for inclusion in the Program, RAE will communicate dates for additional details along with audio-visual (AV) logistics. Session chairs are responsible for providing all required information related to their sessions by the due dates. Reasonable AV equipment, including laptops, projectors, and screens, will be provided as needed. All presentations should be in English, if there is a need for support for American sign language, please let us know.

Poster Setup and Display

Posters will be displayed on a board from Sunday evening, December 9, through Wednesday afternoon, December 12. Additional information on poster logistics will be provided upon approval to the program. To the degree possible, posters will be arranged by topic or focus area. If you would like your poster displayed with others, please indicate this in your proposal in the “additional information” area in the submittal form.

Some key points to keep in mind:
  • Proposals will be reviewed based on the information received by the due date of April 1, 2022. Proposals deemed incomplete or lacking in information will likely be rejected by the Program Committee.
  • A person may submit more than one proposal, and someone may be included in more than one proposal. As a rule, however, the Program Committee tries to limit people to one oral presentation within the program to maximize speaking opportunities for the greatest number of people. Submitters may propose an oral presentation and poster, and both may be selected for the Program.
  • When developing your proposal, please refer to the GPO Style Guide.
  • Dedicated sessions must have five speakers. If your session has unique elements (e.g., uses a workshop format) that would necessitate fewer presenters, please submit the proposal as an alternative format session.
  • Single presentations will be combined to create sessions. If you have a preference as to the type of session, please indicate it in the “additional information” box in the online form.
  • Dedicated sessions should consist of multiple viewpoints and organizational representation; sessions consisting of staff from only one organization will likely be rejected by the Program Committee.
  • All Summit attendees, including speakers and poster presenters, must register and pay the registration fee to participate in the Summit in person. If you are submitting on behalf of other speakers, please make sure everyone in your session understands this requirement. Scholarships for registration will be available in limited quantities.

QUESTIONS

For additional information about the Summit, please visit https://raesummit2022.estuaries.org/ or contact the following people:

Submit Your Poster