Future Earth, the South African Government Department of Science and Technology, the National Research Foundation of South Africa, and START are pleased to announce the Seedbeds of Transformation: the Role of Science with Society and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa conference. The conference will take place from 9 to 11 May 2018 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Seedbeds will provide a collaborative space for interrogation of transformations in Africa, and how working toward the SDGs may bring us closer to these. The conference will encourage dialogue and actions including examining potential tradeoffs involved with strategies for achieving the SDGs and pursuing transformational change in different contexts across the continent.
We are seeking proposals for sessions that encourage active participation and open dialogue among attendees. Sessions should seek to draw on diverse perspectives from research, policy and practice and focus on African priorities and actions. The conference will accommodate approximately 300 participants. The session proposals are expected to address one or more of the conference themes:
We are seeking ideas for immersive and highly participatory sessions that advance key concepts and ideas under the three themes, and that produce strategic and actionable recommendations at various decision making levels to take forward from this conference. Because of the conference structure, we are looking for session concepts that rely on dialogue and engagement much more than on conventional presentation formats. Proposals that originate from African-based applicants or that have a strong link to local, national and regional African contexts are preferred, though other proposals will be considered.
The deadline for submissions is February 5, 2018.
Selection criteria for successful session proposals (arranged by priority):
To apply, please fill out the online form here.
When applying, please indicate:
For more information, contact Craig Starger at craig.starger@futureearth.org.