Share your Knowledge at AC24: Where connection grows and collaboration sparks.
Cancun, Mexico
October 15-18, 2024
Conference Goals:
- Connect: Facilitate inter-organizational connections to lay the groundwork for establishing a collective, coordinated voice and guidance on responsible seafood issues
- Collaborate: Provide a space where attendees can draw on expertise and group discussion to explore solutions that could be accomplished through collaborative efforts across our movement
- Create: Share calls to action for the community to make progress toward the Alliance’s 2030 Goal
We’re excited to share the call for session proposals for the Alliance Conference 2024! This is a special year for our annual event — a gathering that comes at a critical time for our Movement. We believe that members of our community fully grasp the gravity of the challenges ahead, and we’re looking forward to a highly interactive conference where the community will engage deeply. We’re seeking lively sessions to encourage us to focus our collective energy on uncovering innovative, yet practical solutions.
Here are the formats available for this year’s conference sessions:
Breakout Sessions: (length: 75 minutes) These sessions highlight cross-organizational initiatives, global partnerships and projects, etc. that are intended to benefit the greater sustainable seafood movement. We will host four breakout sessions throughout the agenda and speakers can expect between 30-50 attendees. Sessions must:
- Incorporate speakers from at least two separate organizations
- Allow substantial time (min 15 minutes) for attendee questions
- Provide clear next steps for action or engagement
Solutions for Seafood Workshops: (length: 2 hours) New this year, we are seeking submissions from project leads of funded initiatives that are currently underway (or will be by October 15) and are looking to leverage the expertise of those in attendance to improve their final output. The workshop goal is to help project leads create/finalize an actual solution or tool that can be used by the sustainable seafood community. The design of these workshops should be highly interactive and allocate the majority of time to activities that solicit attendees for feedback and ideas the project leads intend to consider and implement as appropriate into their project. Following the meeting, project leads will present back to the Global Hub on the progress of the project, final release, and how members can engage, amplify or implement the solution. The Alliance will select three projects for inclusion in this year’s agenda and presenters can expect between 25-40 attendees.
Lightning Round Sessions: (length: 10 minutes) Lightning Rounds provide attendees with a landscape view of the various projects and efforts underway and enable presenters to reach a diverse audience quickly. In these brief presentations, speakers can present a call to action; share lessons learned from projects, partners on the ground, or in different sectors; or present opportunities to collaborate. Presenters should prepare for a 10-minute presentation and feedback sessions, repeated three times to a small group of attendees (~8 people each round).
Topics of Community Interest for Breakout and Workshop Sessions:
- Accountability mechanisms, mandatory minimums, commitment tracking, verification
- Climate impacts on seafood
- Data – APIs, shared data, new technology, impact measurement
- Funding landscape – impact investing, evolving philanthropic strategies
- Gender equality
- Integration of social and environmental responsibility
- Small-scale fisheries + aquaculture (market access, data, alternative models)
All topics and projects are welcome for Lightning Round submissions.
All presenters must be present in person at the Alliance Conference. If any of your speakers plan to participate virtually, please note that in your session proposal for consideration.
We strive to create equitable access to our conference for all, and as such, have kept registration fees as low as possible. We will not be able to cover the cost of conference attendance for session speakers. however, we have a scholarship program to support those who require financial assistance. Learn more about our scholarship program.
The deadline for session proposals was April 24. Please contact Meaghan@solutionsforseafood.org with questions. We invite you to register to attend, and we hope you’ll plan to submit a session proposal for the event next year.
