Call for Presentations
Submission Deadline: May 16, 2025
Forward Together
54th Annual NAAEE Conference
November 3–6, 2025 ● Virtual
In the face of unprecedented global challenges, our 2025 virtual conference will highlight how we can move forward by harnessing our collective wisdom and diverse perspectives to create a more just and sustainable future. Environmental education is our foundation—it equips people with the tools to act, encourages new ways of thinking, and leads to positive change. As we confront environmental threats, misinformation, and division, our mission has never been more urgent.
Progress depends on collaboration, innovation, and the collective power of educators, learners, changemakers, and communities. Our conference will bring together voices from across the field and around the world. Together we can support more educators, inspire more learners, and create lasting impact.
NAAEE seeks compelling proposals that broaden participation, inform environmental educators about proven practices, push the leading edge of the profession, and motivate the pursuit of excellence.
View Conference Strands >
Delivery Options
All sessions will be virtual, but, depending on the selected format, they may be presented live or as prerecorded on-demand sessions. To increase the chance of acceptance, individuals opting for live sessions may also indicate on their submission that they’d also like to be considered for an on-demand bright spot session as an alternative.
Live Sessions (Workshop, Symposium, Hands-On, Traditional, Roundtable):
- Scheduled once between November 4 and November 6 and presented live via Zoom during regular conference hours (11:00 AM–6:00 PM EST) (Workshops will be scheduled throughout October, dates to be determined.)
- Presenters interact in real time with attendees; the majority of presenters must participate in the live session
- May include one or two prerecorded segments, in particular to help accommodate international presenters in different time zones
- Sessions (except workshops) will be recorded for on-demand viewing after the conference
- Presented through a conference platform that uses Zoom, with typical features such as screen sharing, breakout rooms, chat, and polls available to presenters
On-Demand Sessions (Bright Spot, Poster):
- Prerecorded sessions submitted in advance and available throughout the conference for asynchronous viewing at any time
- No scheduled presentation time
- Presenters must be registered conference participants but do not need to be in attendance
- Presenters will need to submit prerecorded mp4 files by September 15 to allow time for processing
- On-demand session recordings will continue to be available for viewing after the conference
Session Formats
Select the most appropriate session format for your proposal.
Bright Spots
(10 minutes) Bright spots are succinct talks that celebrate specific triumphs and showcase things that work. These prerecorded sessions highlight successful and innovative programs, community partnerships, conservation achievements, expanded audiences, research and evaluation findings, civic engagement, and more. Presentations are limited to a maximum of 10 minutes. All bright spots will be offered as prerecorded on-demand sessions.
Hands-On Presentations
(60 minutes) Hands-on presentations are designed to engage participants in virtual teaching activities, interactive discussions, and more. All hands-on sessions will be offered as live sessions.
Poster Presentations
(10-minute option) Posters are images saved as PDF files that summarize programs, resources, research studies, or other work through text, images, and data. Posters are most often created using applications such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Publisher. Poster presentations may include one or more still images, and presenters may include an optional recorded introduction up to 10 minutes long. All posters and associated recordings will be offered as prerecorded on-demand sessions.
Roundtable Discussions
(40 minutes) Roundtable discussions emphasize spirited discussion about a central question led by the presenter(s) and engaging session attendees. Presenters briefly introduce the baseline idea or question they wish to explore and then open the discussion to exchange ideas. Each roundtable discussion will be held in its own virtual room with active attendee participation. All roundtable discussions will be scheduled as live sessions.
Symposia
(60 minutes) Symposia are panel discussions presenting different perspectives on a topic or question related to one of the focus points for each strand. Proposals must include a moderator and a minimum of three panelists representing different organizations, ideas, or experiences. To enhance the richness of discussion, criteria for selecting symposia include the diversity of presenters and viewpoints. All symposia will be offered as live sessions.
Traditional Presentations
(40 minutes) Traditional presentations focus on a single topic or program, typically including a talk or PowerPoint (or other media) presentation followed by questions and answers or a short discussion. All traditional sessions will be offered as live sessions.
Workshops
(3½ hours) Pre-conference workshops are in-depth sessions that actively develop specific professional competencies and have widespread potential for implementation. They will be offered as live sessions throughout October prior to the conference (dates to be determined). Workshops require a separate registration fee, and all workshops are subject to cancellation due to insufficient enrollment. Note that workshop proposals are highly competitive and very few are selected for the conference program.
Review Criteria
The strongest proposals carefully address the criteria listed below and provide enough detail for reviewers to fully understand what the session will entail.
Proposals will be assessed and selected by how well they:
- Describe in detail what will occur in the session
- Explain why the session is appropriate for the selected format and, for live sessions, what specific steps you will take to engage the audience in the virtual setting
- Describe how the session will effectively engage the audience in innovative thinking about new or proven ideas and approaches
- Raise important questions or deliver positive, solution-oriented outcomes supported by research and/or program evaluation
- Explain how the session will inform environmental educators about proven practices, push the leading edge of the profession, and/or motivate the pursuit of excellence
- Demonstrate how the session fits the strand description and one or more focus points
We strive to dedicate at least 15 percent of our concurrent sessions within each strand to advancing environmental education for all. These sessions explore ways to strengthen our field through strategies and programs that help broaden our audiences as well as our workforce, support fairness, engage with new voices, forge new and lasting partnerships, honor traditional knowledge, and increase our reach and relevance throughout society. To help us identify these sessions, reviewers will also assess proposals by how well they address any of these program criteria:
- Incorporate ways in which people from different backgrounds relate to, engage with, and care about the environment in urban, rural, and suburban communities
- Support differences in skills, abilities, and perspectives
- Describe how curriculum design, participant recruitment, program leadership, or administrative structure result in environmental education opportunities for all
- Contribute to a more just and accessible field
How to Submit a Proposal
Proposals must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. PDT on Friday, May 16, 2025. You may find it helpful to download a blank proposal form from the NAAEE website and use it to draft your proposal before entering the information online.
Each individual or team of individuals is limited to three proposals to maximize the number and diversity of presenters and perspectives on the conference program.
Important:
- Use the same email address for submitting your proposal and registering for the conference.
- Make sure you can receive mail from Do_Not_Reply@AllAcademic.com to stay informed about your proposal. Check your spam filters if you are missing messages.
- Proposals must be submitted online through All Academic, our proposal management system.
- Click here to enter All Academic or find the link on the conference or research symposium home page or from the menu on NAAEE’s conference website.
- If you’ve been part of a proposal in the past, you likely already have an All Academic account. Log in using your email as your username and your most recent password.
- If you need to reset your password, click on the appropriate link in All Academic. You will receive an email message from Do_Not_Reply@AllAcademic.com with further instructions.
- If you do not have an All Academic account, you'll need to create one by clicking on the new user link. Use your email address as your username. You will immediately receive an email message from Do_Not_Reply@AllAcademic.com with further instructions.
- Check your spam filters if you do not receive the message. You will continue to receive messages from this email address in the future; make sure it is in your safe senders list.
- On your home page in All Academic, click "Submit a Proposal." Select “Conference” or "Research Symposium" and complete the online submission form.
- Click the “Accept and Continue” button on each page until you reach the final confirmation page.
- When your proposal is successfully submitted, you will receive a confirmation email from Do_Not_Reply@AllAcademic.com. This email address is often caught by sensitive filters. If you haven't received it, check your junk folder and make sure the “@allacademic.com” domain is in your safe sender list so you receive future mailings.
- You can edit any information in your proposal until the May 16 submission deadline by logging in to your All Academic account and selecting the proposal from the list on your All Academic home page.
Important Notes About Registration
All presenters and co-presenters are required to register and pay published fees for the conference.
NAAEE depends on registration fees to cover conference expenses and cannot provide waivers or discounts to presenters. There are typically more than 500 presenters on the conference program.
NAAEE has not yet finalized fees, but we expect conference registration for current NAAEE members to be about $275 for a professional and $175 for a student or retiree. Nonmember rates will about 30% higher. We also hope to provide lower-cost options for those with limited funding. There is a separate registration fee for the NAAEE Research Symposium.
All presenters must confirm their participation by registering for the conference by the September 15, 2025 early bird deadline.
If your proposal is accepted, you will have an additional opportunity to finalize session information after receiving your acceptance notice.
Questions
As a first step, please check the Frequently Asked Questions on the NAAEE website for assistance with submitting your proposals. If you need additional help, please contact us at conference@naaee.org.