Description
This is the main international human-animal interaction conference globally. It attracted around 260 delegates from around the world and included keynotes, oral presentations, poster presentations, emerging trends talks and practitioner workshops.I was organiser and worked closely with ISAZ administrator and president (Prof Patricia Pendry) to develop the theme, academic and social programme, and website. I worked with Edinburgh First to plan accommodation for delegates and running of the conference. All submissions underwent blind double review by a large international team of academics who are members of ISAZ.
I created a local cross-disciplinary programme team (Dr Laura Wauthier, Dr Roxanne Hawkins, Prof Steve Loughnan, Prof Andrew Gardiner, and Dr Rebecca Marsland) to contribute to the conference proposal, support chairing sessions and organising social events.
I managed a team of 6 volunteer postgraduate students from Dept Clinical and Health Psychology, who ran the registration desk and supported delegates throughout the event. This experience supported their CV development, knowledge of human-animal interaction, and links to potential PhD supervisors internationally.
We have a full 4 day programme including academic talks, KEI practitioner workshops, ECR events including 5 minute emerging topic presentations, and a zoo visit with academic talks, and networking events. We also had a full social programme with ceilidh, walks and wine receptions.
It was the most successful ISAZ conference in terms of numbers of submissions, numbers of delegates and highly positive feedback (see financial report attached). It also generated substantial revenue for the university as most delegates were housed in Pollock Halls and all academic and social events were organised with Edinburgh First. I also negotiate delegates rates at our university shop and many international delegates bought luxury products such as cashmere scarves.
| Period | 15 Jun 2023 → 18 Jun 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Edinburgh, United KingdomShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |