Practice/Policy and Research presentation proposals related to increasing physical activity for all people are invited for submission. Proposals related to equity for racially and ethnically diverse populations, people with disabilities, and those living in lower-income urban and rural communities who are at greatest risk for physical inactivity and its related diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other chronic conditions are encouraged. Proposals related to the conference theme – Play every Day, it’s the Multigenerational Healthy Way – are also welcomed, but it is not a requirement to address this topic. The conference sub themes of disparities, inclusion, active transportation, recreation and sport may also help guide the focus of proposals.

Progress towards creating more equitable activity-friendly communities requires learning across many disciplines and regions, so proposals from all fields of research and practice are invited, as are proposals with an international focus. Proposals focused solely on behavior change at the individual level and studies related to obesity treatments will not be accepted.

Submission Categories

Proposals can be submitted under the following three categories: 1) Practice/Policy; 2) Research; or 3) Workshop.

Practice/Policy Proposals
Practice and Policy Proposals highlighting successful programs, policies, and partnerships from those in practice are appropriate. Practice/Policy focused proposals should describe programs, best practices, interventions, case studies, policy or advocacy impacts, or new resources that are related to environmental and policy aspects of active living or obesity prevention (e.g., how innovative ideas and/or evidence-based research was translated into successful adoption or implementation of practice or policy). Efforts that resulted from multi-sector participation, applied previous research, or included evaluation are particularly encouraged.

Practice/policy focused proposals should include the following headings: Background and Purpose, Description (including how innovation or research was used to guide the program or policy, if applicable), Learning Objectives, Conclusions and Implications (including lessons learned), Next Steps (including how the program or policy could be informed by research and evaluation, if applicable), References (if applicable), and Support/Funding Source (if applicable).

Research Proposals
Research Proposals describing statistical results, intervention efficacy and effectiveness, methodological advances, dissemination and implementation research, and other scientific  innovations on all topics related to active living are appropriate. Research-focused proposals should describe research that is related to policy and environmental aspects of active living or obesity prevention. Methodological, correlational, intervention, natural experiment, economic, and policy studies are encouraged. Proposals presenting innovative conceptual papers and reviews will also be considered, including those with a focus on translating active living research into practice and policy. If you do not have complete results to report in your proposal, please include a note to reviewers about the timeline for finalizing data analysis.

Research proposals should include the following headings: Background and Purpose, Learning Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions, Implications for Practice and Policy (‘So what?’), References (if applicable), and Support/Funding Source (if applicable).

Workshop Proposals
Workshops for researchers (e.g., methods, statistics) and practitioners (e.g., use of measures or tools, dissemination, case studies of community change, translation or scalability of findings to inform policy and practice) are encouraged. Proposed sessions must be interactive and include clear learning objectives. Your abstract should explicitly describe the interactive features of your workshop. A panel of presenters with time for discussion does not qualify as an interactive workshop.

Workshops can be proposed for either 1.5 or 3-hour formats. It is anticipated that most of the workshops selected will be 1.5 hours. If you submit an abstract for the 3-hour format, you should provide a compelling justification for the length and a breakdown for how the time will be used. In some cases, the review committee may suggest a shorter format and/or provide other input for consideration. Workshop proposals should include the following headings: Workshop Description, Learning Objectives (3-4 suggested), Interactive Features, and References (if applicable).

Presentation types

Proposals submitted to the Practice/Policy and Research categories will be considered for the following four presentation types:

1. Oral Presentation – Authors selected for an oral presentation will present during concurrent sessions. There will be a total of three concurrent sessions scheduled in separate rooms with a session chair assigned to each room. Session assignments will be made based on topic, and each presenter will have a total of 15 minutes (12 minutes for presentation and 3 minutes for Q&A). There will be time for a group discussion at the conclusion of the session.
2. Speed Talk – Authors selected for a Speed Talk will deliver a brief presentation during concurrent sessions. There will be a total of three concurrent sessions scheduled in separate rooms and a session chair assigned to each room. Session assignments will be made based on the proposal topic and each presenter will have a total of 7 minutes (5 minutes for presentation and 2 minutes for Q&A). There will be time for a group discussion at the conclusion of the session.
3. Poster – Presenters will display selected posters during a session devoted exclusively to poster viewing with no competing programming. The poster session will provide an effective mechanism for dissemination and networking.

You will be asked to select a preferred presentation type in the online submission system. A selection committee will decide what presentation type each proposal will be invited for based on reviewer scores/recommendations.

Thematic Panels
We will consider grouping together up to four related presentations in the same session if all proposals  are accepted for presentation. If you would like your proposal to be grouped together with another presentation(s), you will be asked to list the proposal number(s), title(s), and/or author(s) in the online submission system. We cannot guarantee that all requests will be accommodated.

Remote Presentations
We are planning for the 2024 Active Living Conference to be a fully in-person meeting with the understanding that plans may change pending public health and organization guidelines. For each accepted proposal, at least one author is required to register for the conference and deliver the presentation in person. If you are not able to attend the conference in-person, but wish to present your work, there is an option to submit your proposal and indicate that you can only participate remotely in the submission form. We will explore the possibility of including virtual presentations in the program. There will be no live stream available.

Submission Guidelines

 You must submit proposals electronically through the online submission system and are required to adhere to the following guidelines:

• All applicants will use the same link to access the online submission system and will be prompted to select the appropriate submission category (e.g. Practice/Policy, Research, or Workshop).
• Proposals must use the provided template and follow the format instructions.
• The maximum proposal length is one single-spaced page. Do not change the font (Calibri, 11 point) or margins (1 inch) of the template.
• There is no limit on the number of proposals you may submit.
• At least one author must register for the conference to present an accepted proposal.
• The proposal deadline is December 1, 2023 at 11:59 pm PT.

Review Process

Proposals will undergo blind review by a panel from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Selection for presentation is based on the quality of the research or project, clarity of the proposal, relevance to the field of active living, and adherence to the guidelines. The presentation type for Research and Practice/Policy proposals will be determined by review score and reviewer recommendation.

Decisions regarding acceptance will be made by early January and the submitting author will be notified via email. Expenses associated with the submission, preparation, and presentation of the proposal are the responsibility of the presenters.

Successfully submitted proposals will be acknowledged with an electronic receipt including a proposal reference number, which should be quoted in all correspondence.

For revisions or queries regarding proposals already submitted
If you do not receive acknowledgement for your proposal submission or you wish to make any essential revisions to a proposal already submitted, please do not resubmit your proposal, as this may lead to duplication. Please email the Conference Content Executive with details of any revisions or queries. Please quote your reference number if you have one.

Conference Journal Special Issue

We are pleased to announce the Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living (JHEAL) as a partner journal for the 2024 Active Living Conference. As part of this partnership, we will work with the journal to produce a special issue devoted to research, practice, and policy on active living presented at the conference. Approximately 6 of the top scoring proposals selected for presentation at the conference will be invited to submit papers for inclusion in the special issue at no cost and an additional 6 – 9 papers will be invited to submit a paper at a reduced processing fee rate. Papers will be invited for a full manuscript or a brief report, depending on the complexity of the topic. Authors of both research and practice/policy focused abstracts will be asked whether they wish to be considered for the journal special issue. Abstracts that are related to the conference theme, as well as those that are not, are eligible for consideration in the journal. Authors who are invited to submit a paper will be asked to commit to develop and submit a manuscript no later than May 24, 2024.

About the Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living

JHEAL is an international, online, open-access, quarterly, peer-reviewed journal focused on publishing high-quality studies in the areas of active living and healthy eating. Of particular interest are studies of the interactional nature between active living and/or healthy eating and the “environment”, broadly defined to include social, cultural, economic, political, natural, virtual and built dimensions. Papers that report on multi-level studies and interventions are also welcome. We publish full length reports, brief communications, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, translational and practice-based research, policy and systems change evaluations, natural experiment studies, case studies, notes from the field, commentaries, and systematic reviews. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies are all encouraged. Because we value the application of research, we invite submissions from researchers as well as practice- and policy-oriented submissions from practitioners, policy makers, and advocates. Research and practice/policy papers will have separately-labeled sections, and reviewers with appropriate expertise will be selected. We are also open to publishing digital media files including maps, visualizations and other modern media.  By the time of publication for the special issue, all articles will be indexed in both PubMed Central and CINAHL.

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