Call for Proposals

To host the 15th ISE Congress of ethnobiology in 2016

The Call for Proposals is now closed.

The Board of the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) welcomes proposals to host the 15th ISE Congress, to be held in 2016. Institutions or groups interested in hosting the Congress should submit proposals by Thursday, 1 March 2012 as a Word or pdf document to Natasha Duarte, ISE Coordinator, with a copy to Leslie Main Johnson, ISE secretary. Electronic submissions must contain your name or your organization’s name in the file name (e.g., John_Smith_2016Congress proposal.doc).

Download the Guidelines for Submission.

Guidelines for Submissions:

Please include the following information and address the following criteria in your proposal in a maximum of 10 pages (not including maps, photos and supporting documents).

PART A: Please submit a brief narrative answering the following questions (in order):

1. Why do you want to host the 15th ISE Congress?
2. How will the Congress that you host further the goals of the ISE (refer to the ISE vision statement)? Outline any other goals (for example, to bring attention to a local issue or international interaction to a local group).
3. How will your organizing team encourage and incorporate participation of Indigenous, traditional and local community members?
4. What are your preliminary ideas for Congress themes?
5. How will your organizing team incorporate information-sharing structures into the Congress beyond conventional academic formats? How will you achieve the central goals of the ISE of using the Congress to create a productive space for exchanges between diverse political, cultural and epistemological views in ethnobiology?
6. How would you describe the host organization or institution’s strengths in relation to ethnobiology, biocultural diversity and related fields?
7. What is the host organization’s capacity and experience in relation to organizing a major event of this kind?
8. Why would ethnobiologists be interested in meeting in the host country and region? What points of geographical and historical interest exist in the region? Please make special reference to cultural and biological diversity; ability to interact with local ethnobiologists and with Indigenous, traditional, and/or local communities; and to contacts with other relevant organizations and institutions.
9. What is your team’s proposed organizational plan? Please include information about the following: specific Congress location and locations of potential venues; local organizing committee; infrastructure and services; institutional, governmental and other support, and a well-developed funding strategy. Maps and photos of the proposed location and region can be included as supporting materials.

PART B: Please make sure you provide details on the following criteria:

1. Logistics: Please provide estimates of travel cost and convenience (how well the location is connected to the rest of the world). Do adequate facilities exist for accommodation? Is local administrative support available for logistics? Are visas relatively easy to obtain? What strategy do you have to help participants get visas? Are interesting field sites nearby and accessible?
2. Institutions, infrastructure, and communications: Do appropriate cultural or scientific institutions exist in the proposed Congress location? What is the state of local communications and Congress facilities? Is local administrative support available for communications and correspondence (through fax, email, and message posting on the web)?
3. Organizational and funding support: Is your team able and willing to establish a strong and active local organizing committee to work on the Congress program, logistics, and fundraising? How will the team maintain good communication with and involvement of the international organizing committee, ISE Board and ISE staff?
4. Additional criteria: Does your team have the ability to develop and regularly update a detailed web page or create a website for the Congress?
5. Proceedings: Does your Congress organizing team have an interest in, and ability to compile and oversee publication of Congress Proceedings, either electronically or in print? Note: it is expected that at least 50% of royalties from Proceedings are donated to the ISE to support ongoing organizational costs.

The ISE Board will evaluate and rank proposals based on the above criteria while also striving to maintain geographic rotation of congresses across different regions. The Board may contact you for additional information and clarification. Please note that final decisions (vote by membership) will be based on the information you provide and recommendations of the ISE Board.

To date Congresses have been held in:

14th (planned) Congress 2014 Lamai Gompa, Bumthang, Bhutan

13th (planned) Congress 2012 Montpelier, France

12th Congress 2010 Tofino, Canada

11th Congress 2008 Cusco, Peru

10th Congress 2006 Chiang Rai, Thailand

9th Congress 2004 Canterbury, Kent, UK

8th Congress 2002 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

7th Congress 2000 Athens, USA

6th Congress 1998 Whakatane, Aotearoa/New Zealand

5th Congress 1996 Nairobi, Kenya

4th Congress 1994 Lucknow, India

3rd Congress 1992 Mexico City, Mexico Chair

2nd Congress 1990 Kunming, China

1st Congress 1988 Belem, Brazil

Proposals must be received by the due date to allow sufficient time for members to read them online before voting in May 2012. As the ISE is moving to online voting in 2012, finalists are encouraged to supplement their written proposal with a short video or powerpoint presentation which can be linked to in the e-ballot.

The organization with the winning bid will be invited to make a short presentation during the 2nd General Assembly in person, but a presentation by proxy is also acceptable. The decision will be announced publicly in June 2012. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have as you consider your proposal submission.

Expectations of the ISE

As Society business also takes place at the ISE Congresses, it is expected that the Congress hosts will work closely with the ISE to ensure that sufficient time is allocated on the Congress agenda to conduct the business of the ISE. The amount of time required for this will be determined through direct conversations with the ISE Coordinator and Board.

The Congress hosts will not be directly responsible for funding participant costs to attend the 15th ISE Congress (e.g., travel costs or registration fees), but are expected to assist the ISE to fundraise for Indigenous travel bursaries or awards. In the event that funds are raised by the Congress hosts for the purpose of supporting Indigenous participant travel, decisions on dispersment will be made in collaboration with the ISE.

The ISE will support the ISE Congress Organizing Committee through the donation of time of the ISE Coordinator, ISE Board Members and other interested ISE members for Congress planning, fundraising, and other activities agreed by the Congress host and the ISE

The ISE will provide planning documents, schedules, grant applications, and template announcements and letters to the Congress hosts which can be drawn on as needed. Likewise, Congress hosts are expected to provide the ISE with copies of all planning documents, schedules, grant applications, and financial information pertaining to their ISE Congress for the purposes of future Congress planning. Additionally, a final Congress report and final list of Congress participants will be provided to the ISE in a timely manner following the completion of the Congress.

Beginning with the 2014 Congress, the ISE will manage the online registration for the Congress and will retain up to $10,000 USD of the registration revenue as the administrative fee.

The group with the winning bid will be expected to develop and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the ISE, which will clearly identify the above responsibilities and expectations. Other responsibilities and expectations will be negotiated with the Congress hosts and will be dependent on the capacity and needs of the host organization.

At least one representative from the host organization is strongly encouraged to attend both the Congress where they make their initial presentation and the Congress immediately preceding the one that they will host. The ISE has found that having this overlap is beneficial to successful Congress planning and supports good communication between the Congress hosts and the ISE. The ISE will assist in fundraising to support this if needed.

Thank you in advance for your submission,

The ISE Board