| Plenary
sessions
The plenary sessions are organised to bring together
all Forum attendants in one place. These state-of-the-art
sessions (maximum 2 each day) imparted by world renowned
professionals on the forefront of research in the area
of environment and health linkages are intended to energise
participants and encourage joint thinking and exchanging
of ideas. Each of these sessions will be composed of
two or three keynote presentations related to the central
themes
of the Forum. These sessions will be coordinated by
one Chairperson and may have one of the following formats:
- 3 main keynote speakers for each plenary (25 minute
presentations with 15 minutes remaining for discussion
/ debate from audience)
- 1 to 2 keynotes (30-40 min) followed by a panel
of commentators 15 minutes each
- Round table with 2-3 speakers
Symposia/panels
Symposia are imparted by specialists and experts who
discuss and develop a specific topic in a detailed and
complete manner from different points of view through
brief and synthesized contributions (oral, video, etc).
The submission system for Symposia will be open in April.
Information submitted on a symposium as a unit must
include a brief description of its overall organising
theme, the abstracts of the individual presentations,
the coordinates of the session chair and each presenter,
and the sponsoring institution(s). The symposia will
last a total of 2 hours including 3-4 presentations,
followed by a summary by the chair and a 30 minutes
question period. Presenters to this type of sessions
should not attempt to present full case studies but
rather concentrate on one or two particular or original
elements of their project in relation to the theme of
the sessions.
Oral presentations
The oral presentations sessions are designed to provide
an opportunity to various authors to present a general
overview of key and original elements related to their
research, work, or implementation activity. They can
describe the research or implementation activity framework;
discuss its originality, methodology; or present main
results and discuss their relevance. Organised into
a panel in one of the parallel sessions, up to 6 oral
presentations could be grouped together using a central
theme. Each 15 minutes of presentation is followed by
a 5-minute question period for each presenter. The total
time of this type of parallel session will be 2 hours.
An abstract can be submitted for each individual oral
presentation by its author(s) or for a complete panel
that describes an overall organising theme as well as
individual presenter's specific abstracts and coordinates
(see symposia/panel description above).
Poster-aided Interactive
Sessions/Poster driven seminars
Poster-aided Interactive Sessions build on the advantages
and strengths of both an oral presentation and a poster
session. A chair will coordinate the presentation of
up to 6 posters in each session of 2 hours (for details
on recommended poster formats, please see description
of Poster Exhibit below). Session attendees will have
30 minutes to view and discuss the posters with their
author(s), followed by a brief introduction of the session
theme by the Chair and 2-5 minutes presentation by each
poster author(s) in relation to the theme of the session.
Due to the shortness of time, poster authors must cover
only the major points of their work, mainly the conclusions
obtained from the data, using their posters as visual
support and organisation guidelines while presenting.
The time limits will be strictly enforced by the session
chairs. The second part of the session is left open
for a discussion with the audience, facilitated by the
chairperson.
Abstracts for a complete Poster-aided Interactive Session
(including the overall organising theme, the abstracts
of the individual poster presentations, and the coordinates
of the session chair and each presenter) could be submitted
by the chairperson. Alternatively, author(s) of individual
posters can submit individual abstracts to be organised
into a full session by the Forum Scientific Program
Committee.
Poster Exhibit
Posters are widely used in the scientific disciplines
to replace concurrent sessions of oral presentations
reading of papers. It is a visual and concise method
of presenting one's work. All posters will be displayed
in a central public space and will be available for
viewing by the public throughout the Forum. They will
only be removed from this central display and transported
to specific rooms when they are needed for the Poster-aided
Interactive Session if they are assigned to one (see
description above). The author(s) of the posters will
be available to respond to questions from the public
during lunch time on their assigned day.
Individual posters should measure 90 cm wide X 120
cm high (approx. 3’ wide X 4’ high). They
should be legible from 1 meter (3 feet). The orientation
of the poster is flexible to accommodate creativity
and originality in poster designs (i.e., please include
any colours, graphics and pictures to highlight your
work), but dimensions of the poster should not exceed
those provided above. Suggested sections to organise
a poster: Introduction, Objectives, Materials and Methods,
Results, Discussion and Conclusions
Peer Assist
Need help with a particular research, policy or intervention
issue? This highly interactive session will allow a
researcher, practitioner or policy maker to present
a specific, real-life challenge he/she is facing in
5 minutes (covering the background and the issue/challenge
at hand). The audience (peers) then makes suggestions
based on their own experiences (30 minutes). A scribe
is designated to record the discussions for later use
by the presenter making it worthwhile for both the peer
assistee and the audience to participate.
Abstracts for a complete 2 hour long peer assist session
with maximum 4 questions could be submitted by the chairperson.
Alternatively, individual questions could be submitted
using the abstract submission system to be grouped into
a session by the Scientific Program Committee. Flip
charts will be provided for this session.
For more details on the peer-assist methodology, please
see English: http://www.saea.uottawa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=682&Itemid=649&lang=en
French: http://www.saea.uottawa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=682&Itemid=649&lang=fr_FR
Round Tables with Testimonies
These 2 hour sessions will allow for a wide range of
stakeholders (researchers, community leaders, youth
representatives, policy makers) of a particular project
to provide brief personal testimonies about how research,
intervention or policy change affected the stakeholders’
lives. A chairperson will facilitate the session consisting
of 5-6 participants, followed by an extensive question
period. Abstracts for a full session could be submitted
by a chair including the overall organising theme, a
brief background on each testimony, and the coordinates
of the session chair and each speaker.
Video, Audio or Multimedia
Presentations
Live video presentations, audio recording, multimedia,
etc could be used in various ways throughout the Forum.
For example, 1) a particular project could first be
described using this media followed by live discussions
with the community members through a video conference,
2) a video describing a particular project with footage
from the field is showed and discussed by researcher
or practitioner and panelists, 3) collection of short
videos/films grouped around a theme shown with or without
commentary, 4) audio recording meant to enhance project’s
dissemination through radio is presented, followed by
the presenters discussing the challenges, outputs and
a question period, 5) full-length movies/documentaries
related to the themes of the Forum with or without commentary,
6) excerpts from feature films used to illustrate some
mass-media (mis)representation of an EcoHealth issue
and to guide a panel discussion highlighting the impact
the movie(s) had on the understanding of EcoHealth by
the general population.
Abstracts for a complete 2 hour session or a single
presentation could be submitted through the electronic
submission system, clearly indicating the author(s)
coordinates, the video presentation(s) title and subject.
Technical requirement for viewing must be clearly indicated
in the submission.
Youth and policy maker dialogue
This 2 hour session will be an opportunity for 2-3
young stakeholders and 2-3 policy makers to engage in
a dialogue with the guidance of a facilitator. A panel
could focus on a single project or bring in panelists
from different regions of the world grappling with a
shared thematic or challenge. Stakeholders would have
15 minutes to explain their point of view and policy
makers would then have 15 minutes to respond. These
initial presentations would be followed by free exchange
between the panelists with an opportunity for the audience
to pose questions. An abstract for this session must
be submitted by the facilitator including the dialogue's
theme, potential guiding questions to be used by the
facilitator, and the coordinates of the panel participants.
Book Launch with Reviewers
The IEF 2008 offers a venue to launch recently published
book related to the Forum themes. After an introduction
by the session chair, a presentation of the book (preferably
by the author) is followed by comments from 3-4 reviewers
and a question period. The length of the session can
be flexible but cannot be more than 2 hours. The session
chairperson must submit an abstract clearly indicating
the book title and main themes, as well as the coordinates
of the presenter and commentator(s).
Debates - staged with humour
This 2 hour session aims to stage a friendly debate
on a particular EcoHealth issue. Chaired by a moderator,
each side presents their vision followed by a period
of debate guided by targeted questions from the moderator
and the audience. At the end, the audience gets to vote
on which side presented the most convincing arguments
and the best combination of facts and humour. An abstract
for this session must be submitted by the moderator
covering the debate theme, potential questions to be
asked and the coordinates of the moderator and the debaters.
Workshops
On Monday, December 1, 2008, the first day of the IEF
2008, there will be an opportunity for interested IEF
2008 attendees to organise or participate in a range
of workshops. These workshops will address topics related
to the IEF 2008 themes (for a list of possible themes,
please click
here) and each workshop can last between
3 and 8 hours. The specific format of each workshop
will be determined by its proponents; they could include
keynote speeches, discussions and group work, etc.
The submission system for workshops will be open
in April. An abstract must be submitted for each
workshop including the proposed theme, chairperson(s),
objective(s), brief description, presenter(s), language,
and sponsoring institution(s). Accepted workshops will
be advertised on the IEF 2008 website and program and
attendance will be open to all IEF 2008 registered participants.
Registration for each workshop will be handled through
the electronic registration system which will indicate
the costs of attendance (additional to the IEF 2008
registration fee). Due to limited space, participation
will be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis.
Speed Sessions
These innovative sessions will group a maximum of 10
presenters around a specific theme and will be facilitated.
Each presenter will have maximum 5 minutes to talk about
a particular element related to the topic of the session.
Afterwards, the facilitator provides a brief synthesis
followed by a 30 minutes period of questions. The session
should last 2 hours in total. Abstracts for a complete
speed session could be submitted by the facilitator
- the session must be well organized to avoid repetition
by presenters. Alternatively, the IEF 2008 Scientific
Program Committee could propose a Speed Session pulled
together from individual abstracts submitted.
Please note no visual presentation is allowed, or exceptionally
it is a team's presentation, each member contributing
only one slide. |
