This year’s conference will have two types of submissions, described below with examples. All proposals are for 10-minute talks.

(1) Data-driven insights and impacts from recently completed work, including research findings, program evaluations, or tools and platforms for facilitating insights and impacts. Example: In the 2022 Greater Boston Housing Report Card, Boston Indicators found continued increases in housing-related inequality as homeowners have seen rapid appreciation in housing-based wealth whereas renters have been faced with rising rents and increased difficulties in affording homeownership. 

(2) Reflections on civically engaged collaboration and associated tools and strategies. This type of submission focuses on how we work together to generate both insights and impacts. Talks of this type should present new strategies, techniques and/or lessons about how we accomplish civically engaged research. These can come from completed or ongoing projects and can focus on successes, failures, or both. Example: In 2020, the Museum of Science presented a model they developed in partnership with local universities and the City of Boston to co-develop forums with community members to increase agency among community participants, public interest in attending museum programs, and participation in policy making and informing research questions.

We encourage proposals that are...

• Grounded in multiple forms of expertise. We value all forms of expertise, from generational knowledge to lived experience to formal training and everything in between. These bases of expertise can be rooted in any discipline or domain.
  

• Innovative. We want to highlight and share local innovations that use data and research to advance knowledge, policy, and practice in greater Boston. These might be new or newly invented projects or ideas but might also honor old ways of doing or being that have new relevance in our quickly evolving world.  

• Collaborative. We want to showcase the power of collective action: the felt and meaningful impact we can accomplish when we combine our specialized knowledge and skills. Collective action might entail collaborations between individuals, organizations, institutions, or any combination thereof. 

• Directly relevant. We are interested in all topics directly relevant to our communities, including but not limited to: affordable housing and housing insecurity; jobs; public health; economic development; transportation; education; climate resilience; segregation; public safety and law enforcement; arts and culture; and access to resources, amenities, and services. Proposals are not required to describe work that explicitly addresses issues of equity and justice, though all submitters are encouraged to consider these aspects of their proposals.

  Preference is given to presentations that include at least two perspectives on a collaborative project. As such, co-presenters and team presentations are strongly encouraged. For the purposes of proposal review we ask for a single e-mail contact. Conference organizers are happy to work with selected submitters to determine how best to use their allotted speaking time