Abstract

Submit an abstract to speak at AfA Sarawak 2023
Education and Engagement Bring Change Sarawak, October 11-14, 2023

At AfA, we pride ourselves in delivering friendly, diverse and meaningful biennial conferences in Asia with past themes including human behavior change, using laws creatively to help animals and exploring how partnerships breed success. 2023 is no different with this year’s theme ‘Education and Engagement Bring Change’ and we are now taking abstracts for speakers! 

This four-day event will include renowned keynote speakers and plenary sessions, as well as a wide variety of presentations and panel discussions with presenters sharing their experiences and valuable information on how their engagement with the public, authorities and governments created long-lasting change for animals. Topics will cover how education initiatives on animal welfare issues, animal sentience and scientific research are crucial for protecting and conserving animals and their habitat. Speakers will discuss how their initiatives have brought positive changes to species, habitats, local communities and various other stakeholders, and the challenges that they have faced along the way.

If that’s the case, we would love to hear from you and your experiences. We encourage anyone to apply to speak at this prestigious event, whether you are a part of a charity, project, organization, a researcher, or just someone who has relevant experiences to share with us. Further information on conference theme, objectives and streams can be found below. 

Why not submit an abstract of your proposed presentation for review by our event committee?

Education and Engagement Bring Change

All presentations are encouraged to bring perspectives, lessons and stories relating to the three core elements of the Conference theme

EDUCATION
The element of education as a core objective of an organisation's work, or the objective of a project, with focus on animal welfare, husbandry and wildlife
Scope
  • Presentations informing the audience of educational activities and achievements, and sharing the challenges & approaches in different countries & environments
  • Grass-root developments & strategies that strengthen or influence educational objectives
ENGAGEMENT
The approach that intentionally enables, advocates for, and builds upon multi-stakeholder engagement towards organizational and/or project objectives
Scope
  • Presentations describing approaches & lessons learnt through engagement with governments, organisations, companies & civil society
  • Experiences in engagement approaches with hostile audiences and stakeholders
CHANGE
The intended results of using education and education as fundamental approaches towards organizational and project objectives
Scope
  • Presentations informing on positive change arising from initiatives which have education and/or engagement as part of their approach
  • Presentations discussing the effects of successful change in different countries across Asia or beyond

Target presenters:

Organisations, institutions, public & private sector initiatives, , civil society organisations, researchers, students and individuals whose work focuses on animals issues and care across the Asian region and beyond

Target Topic

Human & Animal Health
  • Govt. roles in animal welfare, legislation and policy
  • Veterinary services
  • One-Health education and enabling change
  • Animal-human pathogen transfer (zoonotic diseases) & migratory animals
  • Animal-climate crisis impact & urban wildlife management
  • Managing diseases (Avian Flu, Malaria, SARS, Rabies)
Trade in Wildlife
  • Legal & illegal trade of live animals & plants
  • Legal & illegal harvesting & trade in animal parts
  • Illegal trade & poaching of endangered species for private collectors
  • Social & behavioural change in use of threatened species
  • Trade in freshwater & marine species for aquaria
  • Use of animals in traditional medicine
Communication, Education & Research
  • Communication outreach lessons & strategies
  • Social media messaging & effective media advocacy
  • Humane/animal welfare education
  • Zoos and aquaria
  • Animal rights campaigning
  • Participatory community engagement
  • Animal behavioural science
Animal & Human Interaction
  • Companion animals
  • Working dogs (SAR, guide & sniffer dogs)
  • Animals in rituals & cultural practices
  • Ethnic community learnings & cultural practices involving animals
  • Human-wildlife negative interactions (conflict)
  • Urban dog management
Rescue Centres & Animals in Captivity
  • Animal testing in medicine, cosmetics & pharmaceuticals
  • Care and rights of animals in zoos, aquaria and in tourism
  • Livestock management
  • Captive breeding facilities
  • Animal rescue facilities & challenges
  • Animal welfare NGOs & funding

Timeline

The deadline for the first stage of abstract submission is March 30, 2023; 11:59 pm (GMT +8:00).

For those who are selected, the Conference's Committee will be in touch with you, by email, by April 30, 2023. If your abstract is not selected, you will also be informed.

Submission of draft presentations (presentations intended to be presented during the Conference in Microsoft PowerPoint format) is June 14, 2023. Feedback/comments will be notified via email no later than July 12, 2023.

The deadline for submitting your final full PowerPoint presentations, after incorporating any feedback and adjustments received on July 6, 2023, is September 5, 2023 (11:59 pm GMT +8:00), 2023.

 

 

 

Guidelines for Submitting Presentation Abstracts

  1. The working language of this conference is English. No translation services will be provided.
  2. All presentations must be delivered within 20 minutes.
  3. All presentations should contribute directly to the theme of the Conference. The Conference theme is Education and Engagement Bring Change.
  4. An abstract shall be submitted to the organizing committee by March 30, 2023, 11:59pm (GMT+8:00) via the form. Abstracts shall not exceed 300 words. Abstracts received which exceed the 300 word limit will not be considered. 
  5. Abstracts may be submitted online via the form below - link also: www.asiaforanimals.com/abstract-submission  
  6. A biography of the presenter shall be submitted together with the abstract via the online form below. Biographies should not exceed 50 words. 
  7. All Abstracts will be reviewed by the host organization's Committee. All submissions will be responded to no later than April 30, 2023.
  8. All correspondence regarding abstracts should be addressed to afa2023sc@gmail.com. 
  9. General event-related questions can be directed to our event team at: events@asiaforanimals.com
  10. Approved speakers will automatically have their delegate fee waived.

Message from the Scientific Committee

Submission of abstracts is open to all individuals, organizations, institutions, companies and agencies across the world. Abstracts are received by the Scientific Committee and examined for relevance to the Conference themes’ three core elements: education, engagement and effecting change. 

To assist you in deciding where your presentation is best placed, five sub-themes are described. Each of these sub-themes will become sessions over the four days of the Conference. 

Human and Animal Health
Communication, Education & Research
Animal & Human Interaction
Trade in Wildlife
Rescue Centres & Animals in Captivity​

Once your abstract is approved, you will then submit your full presentation to the Scientific Committee. Please read the simple guidelines provided to help you make your presentations concise and impactful.

We welcome papers from all walks of life which bring new ideas and perspectives, reinforce existing approaches to animal conservation, and stories from the field on the human-animal frontier. We invite everybody and anybody who has a story to tell, or a lesson to share to submit abstracts which would enrich our conference.

See you all in Kuching!