Apply to speak

Abstracts for in-person speakers at NEDC24 must be submitted through the abstract portal by 11:59pm on Wednesday 1st May 2024.

EDA is seeking presentations under the following themes but also invites innovative ideas that may not be listed:

Connect

• The intersection of economic development, planning and urban design
• How to be an impactful broker of place-based economic development
• Community-led economic development
• The role of agglomeration Clusters / Innovation eco-systems / Precincts)
• The great debate – Polycentric vs Monocentric cities?
• Regional Australia –inclusive economies
• Business / Community Improvement Districts (BIDs / CIDs)

Innovate

• Does distance matter anymore?
• The virtual economy. Exploring the impact on place-based economies. What is web3, block chain, tokenising real assets, decentralised finance, digital assets, decentralised democracy, cryptocurrency?
• Harnessing technology (what every economic developer needs to know)
• Understanding of place, smart cities/smart places. Leverage the use of data with accessible Ai tools.

Transform

• Systemic changes: Transforming cities or regions into innovative places for inclusion, prosperity and equity
• Rethinking what we measure
• How place-based economic development can build shared economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability
• The role of transport in economic development
• Transitioning towns – climate, industry and the energy transition. How do communities and Government reimagine their place in the economy?
• How will AI disrupt our jobs and how do we prepare and benefit?
• Place-based impact investing (responsible investment)

Following the Call for Abstract Deadline, all abstracts will be reviewed by the program committee who will consider the following:

 1.      Does it relate to the theme: The Power of Place?

2.      Does it fall under a sub-theme: Connect / Innovate / Transform?

3.      Is it relevant to an audience of economic development professionals?

4.      Is it an original topic? Is it covering new ground? Providing new perspectives?

5.      Does this illustrate best practice and is it analytical? Does it show thought leadership? Is it supported by evidence/data?

Following the review period all abstracts will be notified via email as to the status of their abstract.

You will be able to submit to three different abstract types.

1. NEDC Speaker – 20 minutes plus Q&A / or panel
2. Rapid Fire Presentation – 5 minutes plus panel (Ignite presenters are then asked to be available to meet delegates in the subsequent break)
3. Debate *one opportunity only* – Pitch your idea for a compelling discussion/debate to feature at NEDC24 (all participants must be confirmed by the applicant before submitting)

Abstracts must meet the following guidelines to be considered:

• Abstracts must be submitted via the portal. You will be required to sign up for a/use an existing Zealous portal account.
• Abstracts must be submitted in English
• The abstract should be no more than 500 words
• The abstract should include the following:

– Title of proposed presentation
– Abstract of proposed presentation
– Full name, job title and organisation of proposed presenter/s
– Headshot photograph of proposed presenter/s
– Bio of proposed presenter/s

• You can upload supporting documents or images if required, but these must not be the abstract itself
• Presentations must be in-person
• All abstracts that have been submitted recently to other conferences should not be submitted here. If your abstract is on a subject you have presented at a previous NEDC, it must focus on new developments.
• You can return and edit your abstract any time before the submission end date of 11:59pm on Wednesday 1st May 2024.

• Prior to hitting submit, you have the option to save your submission as a draft
• Whilst you can come back to your submission at any time (before the submission deadline ends), once you have finished entering all details, please ensure you proceed all the way to the end and click ‘submit’ to COMPLETE your submission. Otherwise, your abstract will not be reviewed.
• An automatic acknowledgement email will be sent once your abstract submission is complete
• Please note that the title must not be written in all caps, but in sentence case only