Author: Becky Heaver

You’ve got until 24 February 2020 to send us your ideas if you would like to contribute to next year’s International Resilience Revolution Conference. You might not have presented at a conference before, you might not even have been to a conference before, but please don’t be shy, we REALLY want to hear from you!

Read through the conference themes and see if they apply to what you’re doing.

• Are you doing resilience research or practice with an activist twist?
• Have you reclaimed resilience-based approaches to make them relevant to your own challenging context, for example, as a local community, youth collective or service user group?
• Have you got some exciting new theoretical ideas on resilience that take us to a higher plain?
• Are you putting revolutionary resilience ideas into practice in a school setting or across a whole town?
• Could you be challenging dominant constructions of resilience?
• Are you looking beyond the individual and applying resilience approaches across systems?

We are interested in hearing about research and practice that relates to any of the above in relation to any context – e.g. social, world environmental, galactic… If any of these apply, you might want to start thinking about possible contributions, whether that be: a workshop, talk, performance piece, installation, poster, or something that we just haven’t quite thought of yet. Resilience activism through the medium of interpretive dance? Who knows what else might come our way once we see the proposals.

You have until 24 February 2020 to send us your ideas. We are particularly keen to highlight work that has been thoroughly co-produced between different partners (e.g., young people, academics, practitioners). We are also proactively seeking to include contributions from people who face additional barriers to participation, including those who identify as being from an under-represented community, i.e. from an ethnic minority, working-class, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse, or those with a long-term illness or disability. We will have some bursaries for people on a low income, including communities, youth and students who are doing important work that needs sharing.

Abstract Development Workshop for the 2020 Resilience Revolution Conference

Boingboing are running an Abstract Development Workshop in Blackpool on Monday 11 November 2019 for anybody who fancies working on their ideas in a group setting, whilst finding out more about linking work to the conference themes, and getting tips on how to write a successful abstract.

Overview
The Resilience Revolution at HeadStart Blackpool, in collaboration with Boingboing and the Centre of Resilience for Social Justice at the University of Brighton, will be hosting the world’s first, International Resilience Revolution Conference on the 9-10 September 2020 (with pre- and post-conference events on the 8 & 11 September 2020). The Resilience Revolution is a grass roots social movement that aims to transform Blackpool into a more resilient town, where everyone can thrive. We hope that the conference will be a platform for young people, parents, carers, community groups, organisations, policy makers, commissioners and academics to share their ideas, learning and insight on all things resilience. If you wish to share your work, ideas and knowledge, please consider presenting or running a workshop at the conference.

The benefits?
By the end of the workshop you will:
• understand what an abstract is and what information it should contain
• have learnt about the different ways in which you can present your work at the conference
• have learnt how to relate your abstract to the conference themes

Who should attend?
The deadline to submit your abstract for the Conference is approaching (24 February 2020) so we are running a workshop to support your submission. This workshop is for anyone interested in developing and submitting an abstract (young people, adults, community organisations, carers, practitioners, academics…). We have set out a number of key themes that your work should connect to. We are particularly keen to highlight work that has been thoroughly co-produced between different partners (e.g., young people, academics, practitioners). We are also proactively seeking to include contributions from people who face additional barriers to participation, including those who identify as being from an under-represented community, i.e. from an ethnic minority, working-class, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse, or those with a long-term illness or disability.

What is an abstract?
An abstract is basically a short and clear summary of what you would like to talk about/do at the conference and how you plan to share your work, ideas, and learning. For example, you might be planning to present your work and ideas as an academic paper, a poster, a symposium of small presentations, an interactive workshop, a debate or discussion panel, a performance, artwork or through digital media. Your abstract should also tell the organisers how your work is relevant to the conference themes, what is original or engaging in your work and if/how you have co-produced any elements of the work, ideas etc.

What will it cover?
The workshop will introduce each type of conference contribution in more detail and will give you useful tips for successful abstract submissions. It will be a collaborative and friendly space to check out your ideas, refine your plans or complete your submission. The session will be very practical and interactive, so bring your notebook, your laptop or your sketching pad…..whatever works best for you. It will be facilitated by Barbara Mezes (Research Fellow) and Rosie Gordon (PhD student) from the University of Brighton. Both Barbara and Rosie work in the Research and Evaluation Team of the Resilience Revolution at HeadStart Blackpool.

Abstract Development Workshop for the 2020 Resilience Revolution Conference Resilience
Date: Monday 11 November 2019
Time: 4pm to 6pm
Location: Committee Room (UCH204), Blackpool & Fylde College, University Centre, Park Road, Blackpool, FY1 4ES (Campus map)
Price: Free

Travel information: Please go to the reception in the ‘Central Hub’ building where they will then direct you to the Committee Room. The campus is about a 20 minute walk from Blackpool North Train station. The number 4 bus stops on Palatine Road. There should be some visitor parking spaces available on site and there are other car parks nearby. See this pdf for alternative car parks.