CALL FOR abstracts
The theme for the 2024 Conference is From Awareness to Practice to Transformation. The Abstract Review Committee is seeking for abstracts from a range of sectors and professions linking to this theme. The Committee welcomes abstracts from those working in or supporting restorative practice in a range of fields such as research, policy, lived experience, practice, and service provision.
Key Dates
| Call for Abstracts opens | 6 May 2024 |
| Call for Abstracts close | 1 July 2024 |
| Acceptance notification | 26 July 2024 |
| Authors confirm acceptance | 8 August 2024 |
| Author registration deadline | 19 August 2024 |
Streams
The following streams are available for Abstract submissions. Streams reflect the domains of restorative justice; restorative practices; and restorative engagement. Embedded within all streams is innovative approaches, research and evidence, lived experience, policy, and service provision. Please indicate your preferred stream with your submission.
Health – restorative practices and programs in health systems and service provision, including mental health, hospital and/or community health settings.
Education – restorative practices and programs in school/education settings, including universities.
Criminal Justice – restorative practices and programs throughout different stages of the criminal justice system; restorative justice conferencing; victim-offender mediation; circles of support and accountability.
Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence – restorative practices and programs in relation to domestic and family violence, sexual violence and other gender-based violence.
Family and youth – restorative practices and programs working with families and young people; youth justice conferencing; family group conferencing/meetings; family group decision-making.
First Nations – First Nations-led restorative practices and programs (including community mediation and peace-making services). Restorative approaches to responding to harms associated with colonisation.
Redress – restorative practices and programs responding to institutional/system failures or breaches of trust; responding to historical harms.
Organisation/workplace – restorative approaches to relationship management and conflict in workplaces and organisations.
Faith Communities – exploring the use of restorative principle and practices to develop relationally healthy cultures, and address conflict and harm in churches, mosques, synagogues, monastic and other forms of faith community.
Environment – preventing and responding to environmental harms.
Restorative Cities/Communities/Life – embedding restorative practices within institutions, structures, systems and/or communities; community-based restorative approaches.
Other – e.g. conflict/post conflict/peace-keeping, lived experience.
Presentation Types
The Conference will include opportunities for presentation in several formats. Please indicate your preferred format with your submission. Please note there are limited spaces available for each type of presentation, and the planning committee may propose a different presentation format than proposed by the authors, or you may be invited to participate in a panel discussion. The conference planning committee retains the authority to exclude Abstracts if they do not align with the overarching theme and priorities of the conference.
The organising committee retains the right to exclude specific proposals if their objectives diverge from the overarching theme and priorities of the conference.
Oral presentation: up to 20-minute presentations including questions, with or without slides, suitable for case studies, and practical knowledge exchange.
Workshop presentation: up to 45 minutes including questions. Should be focused on skill development and have an interactive or collaborative component. Suitable for skill and knowledge sharing, deep consideration of case studies, practical knowledge development or exchange.
- The process(es) used by the facilitator(s) in a particular (de-identified) case; and/or
- The experience of developing and/or administering a program.
Selection Criteria
The criteria used by the Abstract Review Committee will be as follows:
- Current and relevant:the presentation will have an emphasis on and/or relevance to current restorative practice issues.
- Analytical: the presentation will provide more than a description of a program or service; it will draw out insights, what was learnt, recommend new policies and/or actions or provide innovative insights.
- New knowledge: it will provide new ideas or develop further what we already know or have shared previously.
- Conference theme and topics: it will offer something significant or unique relating to the conference theme, and/or supports lived experience insights.
- Quality: it is of high quality, demonstrates rigour across methodology and/or is evidence based, engaging.
Presentations should promote ideas and not the selling of products/services.
Submission Guidelines
- Abstract titles should be no more than 12 words.
- Abstracts should be submitted online and be no longer than 200 words.
- Abstracts should advise the presentation type and stream(s) that most closely align with your presentation.
- An abstract should summarise the important points of the proposed presentation to the conference and highlight the original content to be communicated. It needs to be concise yet informative, and contain an outline of the aims, methods, relevance, results, and conclusions of the work undertaken.
- Abstracts should not include tables, figures, photos or references.
- Your abstract must be written in the English language and in the approved form through the portal.
- Ensure approval from any/all co-authors: The submitting presenter must ensure that all coauthors have read and approved the title, summary, presenter names and affiliations.
- Abstract submissions will only be accepted via the online portal.
If you have any queries regarding the abstract process or use of the portal, please contact [insert Megan email].
Successful Abstracts
Following a review process, authors of successful abstracts will be offered a place on the first two days of the conference program. Day Three of the conference, in Open Space Technology format, will enable opportunity for you to expand upon your specific areas of interest in self-organised conversation circles. The provision of presentation technology (PowerPoint etc) cannot be assured on Day Three. For more information about Day Three and Open Space Technology, please see here.
After accepting the offer to present at the conference authors will be required to:
- Register for the Conference by 19 August 2024. This conference will sell out, whilst a certain number of registrations will be reserved for speakers, speakers are still encouraged to register at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment and assist with the planning of the conference.
- By submitting your abstract, you agree to have your abstract (if accepted) published on the conference website, conference app and in printed material, unless you specifically request, in writing, that certain material be excluded from publication for reasons of confidentiality.
- You give the Conference permission to film or photograph your presentation at the conference, unless you specifically request, in writing, that certain material be excluded from filming or photography.
- You will immediately notify the Conference Secretariat if you are unable to present or if the presenting author has changed.
- The acceptance of an abstract does not imply provision of travel, accommodation or (discount on) registration for the Conference, nor any other costs associated with preparation, presentation of the presentation, or any costs associated with attendance at the Conference.