CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS for 2016 IAP2 North American Conference – DEADLINE MARCH 1, 2016

“Who cares about public participation?” That’s a question that challenges our basic assumptions of P2 – and that’s the theme of this year’s North American Conference – Sept. 28-30 in Montréal, Québec. You care about P2; but this Conference is an opportunity for those closely involved with the profession to take a step back and consider:

• Why should we care about P2? What are the advantages of P2? Is there a relationship between P2 and better urban planning, environment, health, sustainability?
• Can we get more people to care? Do elected officials care? Engineers? Citizens? Urban planners? What makes meaningful engagement? How do we get more people to care about creating an engaged civil society?
• What if we stopped caring? What added value does P2 contribute to our societies? Do practitioners have a responsibility to the public? How do we deal with ethical dilemmas?

We’re looking for people to deliver sessions that will address these questions. Are you one of those people? There will be 21 sessions over the two-day Conference, running 60, 75 or 90 minutes in length (at least three of these sessions will be in French). There will also be poster sessions, where practitioners can interact directly with Conference-goers, using a single poster to describe the challenges, victories and lessons-learned in one of their projects.

No time to lose: the deadline to apply is March 1, 2016. Read more information here and download the form here.

Who cares about public participation?
Together, we hope to shape an answer