Conservation Policy Brief Competition

The European Congress of Conservation Biology is to hold an exhibition and contest of Policy Briefs in August 2012.

(More details of the full event on the congress website)

(More details of the competition on the congress website's policy brief page) 

For those who wish to submit, the definition of a brief being used at the event is:

'a very concise version of an already published scientific paper (including a review).A policy-brief targets readers outside the academic realm such as policy-and decision-makers (in which case it is called a Policy brief) who have little time to read and need straight-to-the-point, although precise and comprehensive information on a topic. A policy-brief must accurately reflect the science presented in the original published research paper in an extremely concise way, and in a language understandable by its target audience, and often includes recommendation to decision-makers'

The organiser of the Policy Brief initiative, Barbara Livoreil, new president elect of the Europe section of the Society for Conservation Biology, says,

"This event may also be a great opportunity for you to highlight your activities and raise awareness about your existence at the European level. We are expecting about 1500 participants, mostly scientists (ecologists, social scientists...) but also decision-makers, managers, educators."

Concerning prizes for this contest, the organisers say that money has been secured already for low income or student competitors, so there is no obligation to contribute financially as this may be difficult for some under current restrictions. But there are other possibilities to encourage the winner(s) and there could be several prizes highlighting different aspects or topics.

The British Ecological Society has offered to publish the winner’s brief in its Bulletin, and other offers of publicity are expected.

Finally, if you would like to attend this Policy-brief event, with the decision of the Jury and the award ceremony now planned to take place on August 31^st, 2012, and if you do not present any talk or poster at the Congress, you could participate for a special one-day registration fee which has been especially agreed to support this initiative.

If you are interested in participating please email Barbara Livoreil:

Barbara.livoreil@gmail.com   or   b.a.livoreil@bangor.ac.uk