Session Formats

Fora

A moderated conversation and / or series of short presentations aiming to tackle a specific global sustainability challenge on a common topic. The sessions will be followed by a moderated discussion and questions from the audience. Maximum duration of each forum must be 90 minutes, but we encourage all online session organizers to limit their foras to 60 minutes.

We also encourage interactive and innovative designs that increase audience participation. Examples include human spectrogram (for in-person sessions: the audience votes on a question by moving around the room), live audience polling, social media input, storytelling, and other forms of audience participation. The SRI2021 Congress Platform uses Zoom for video streaming and includes an interactive chat function, files uploads, and polls for each session.

Fora Requirements

Presentations must not exceed 7 minutes/speaker, with a maximum of 6 speakers/session and with at least 30 minutes of panel discussion.
Duration of each fora must be 60-90 minutes – 60 minutes is encouraged for online sessions (and required for 2021 submissions).
Sessions must be open to all conference attendees.
Session facilitators must share a one-page wrap-up report, or 5-10 minute video or audio file, to the congress organizers, summarizing activities, outcomes, and future plans for sharing material or building on the session outcomes beyond the congress, by July 1, 2021, via email to sri@futureearth.org. These follow up reports will be shared with all SRI2021 participants through the SRI2021 online congress platform.
All sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be added to the SRI2021 online congress platform.

Trainings & Workshops

Training sessions and workshops will be run by a mixed group on a topic of interest relevant to the 5 SRI2021 thematic pillars, with specified, action-oriented outcomes to be generated as a result of the session for both the group delivering the training and the participants.

Session proposals should include a set of strengths that will be taught throughout, along with a number of knowledge or practice gaps that the delivering group would like to work through as part of the session. This is designed to encourage two-way, iterative learning on the part of all trainers and participants.

Workshop/Training Requirements

Sessions must not exceed 4 hours. For online training sessions, we strongly recommend shorter duration.
Sessions must be open to all conference attendees.
Session facilitators must share a one-page wrap-up report, or 5-10 minute video or audio file to the congress organizers, summarizing activities, outcomes, and future plans for sharing material or building on the session outcomes beyond the conference, by July 1, 2021, via email to sri@futureearth.org. These follow up reports will be shared with all SRI2021 participants through the SRI2021 online congress plagrom.

Popcorn Sessions

Format:
Popcorn sessions bring people together to learn about the latest and most compelling advances in sustainability in a particular discipline, theme, and/or geography. They are composed of very short presentations by different people on the same topic, exposing different ways of approaching a sustainability challenge. There will be a dedicated time for audience engagement with speakers. Topics can be broad.

Each session will be done in a format in which 4 to 8 speakers will each show 20 slides for 20 seconds. We encourage all online session organizers to limit their popcorn sessions to 60 minutes.

Popcorn session requirements

Sessions must not exceed 90 minutes.
Each session should include 4 to 8 short talks (7 minutes per speaker). In-person session: after each group talk, speakers move to the corners of the room, and the audience engages in Q & A and discussion with one or more speakers for 14 minutes. Online session: speakers and participants move to Zoom breakout rooms to engage in Q & A and discussion.
Session organizers are responsible for proposing and confirming all speakers.

For SRI2021, we will not be running a call for additional popcorn session speakers.

Alternative Design Sessions

Alternative design sessions can take a number of forms. Examples include series of brief presentations, break-out groups, open-ended or facilitated discussion, storytelling, art, announcement, or any combination of these. Be sure your intervention does not fit with any of the other session types before proposing an alternative design session. Alternative design sessions provide an opportunity for facilitators, speakers, and attendees to generate solutions together, and draw on each other’s collective expertise through mixed methods of active listening, discussion, presentation, and other creative interactions. It is designed to give organizers freedom and flexibility to craft a unique session that will provide meaningful results, and carry forward work beyond the event.

Session Requirements:

At least half of the allotted session time must be dedicated to an interactive activity other than presentations. Presentations must not exceed 7 minutes/speaker, with a maximum of 4 speakers/session.
Sessions must not exceed 4 hours. For online training sessions, we strongly recommend shorter duration
Sessions must be open to all conference attendees.
Session facilitators must share a one-page wrap-up report, or 5-10 minute video or audio file to congress organizers, summarizing activities, outcomes, and future plans for sharing material or building on the session outcomes beyond the conference, by July 1, 2021, via email to sri@futureearth.org. These follow up reports will be shared with all SRI2021 participants through the SRI2021 online congress plagrom.

Town Hall Sessions

These 60 minute long sessions consist of 30 minutes for talks by no less than 2 and no more than 4 panelists, and 30 minutes for open discussion with the audience in the room. Town Hall sessions are ideal for themes and topics that are truly cross-sectorial, potentially divisive, and might have a particular political significance. These sessions, which encourage direct engagement with a broader audience will allow multiple voices to be heard. For the presenters, the Townhall sessions will offer an opportunity to test their ideas with different constituencies and to attract broader attention to issues of their expertise or interest.

Session Requirements

Sessions must not exceed 60 minutes.
Sessions must be open to all conference attendees.
Session facilitators must share a one-page wrap-up report, or 5-10 minute video or audio file to congress organizers, summarizing activities, outcomes, and future plans for sharing material or building on the session outcomes beyond the conference, by July 1, 2021, via email to sri@futureearth.org. These follow up reports will be shared with all SRI2021 participants through the SRI2021 online congress plagrom.

Marketplace for Innovation Sessions

Participants are invited to share recent developments in their work across a broad range of use cases and disciplines. This is an interactive expo-like session, where each presenter will occupy a station and interact with other participants across multiple rotations. Each presenter will have approximately 10 minutes in each rotation.

This session is an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues across multiple disciplines and share information and ideas. It is also a great platform for finding new connections and collaborators. For in-person sessions: Because of the dynamic nature of this session, we cannot support projection at the presentation stations. However, the presenters are welcome to bring a laptop or printed visual aids. For online sessions: Zoom breakout rooms will be made available for all speakers. Participants from the same institution should designate a single representative unless the work being presented is substantially different in topic. The total duration of the session is 60 minutes.

Session Requirements

Sessions must be open to all conference attendees.
Session facilitators must share a one-page wrap-up report, or 5-10 minute video or audio file to conference organizers, summarizing activities, outcomes, and future plans for sharing material or building on the session outcomes beyond the conference, by July 1, 2021, via email to sri@futureearth.org. These follow up reports will be shared with all SRI2021 participants through the SRI2021 online congress plagrom.

Q&A Sessions

All organizers of online sessions and sessions that take place in a timezone other than Australia can host a follow up Q&A session in the Brisbane time zone. All speakers are not required to be present in the follow up Q&A session. The session should not be longer than 15 minutes and it will be hosted in a hybrid format.

General information to all session organizers

All online sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be made available via the SRI2021 online congress platform, which will stay live and accessible to SRI2021 participants 6 months after the congress.
All session organizers can share material on their session page in the SRI2021 online congress platform before and after the session.
All session organizers will be invited for a 30-minute SRI2021 online congress platform training session or Q&A session one or two weeks before the SRI2021 congress in June.
There will be an SRI2021 staff member providing support in each session room – virtual or physical.
More session information will be available soon.
For additional questions, please contact: sri@futureearth.org