2026 Call for Abstracts

The Joint Conference Committee is accepting proposals March 24 – June 27 for the IAPD/IPRA Soaring to New Heights Conference, scheduled for January 29-31, 2026!

We will be looking for conference workshops and sessions that unveil the best ideas, informed by research, theory or practice, for parks, recreation, special recreation, forest preserves and conservation.

The conference format includes 90-minute conference workshops, 60-minute sessions, 30-minute speed sessions, and two keynote sessions. Topics to be considered should fall into one of the 12 disciplinary tracks listed below.

Boardmanship
Diversity
Facility Management
Finance/Information Technology
Forest Preserves/Conservation
Governance/Legal
Human Resource/Risk Management
Leadership/Management
Marketing/Communications
Parks/Natural Resource Management
Recreation
Therapeutic Recreation

We are no longer accepting proposals for the 2026 Conference

Important Deadlines!

Depending on the context of your abstract, there are different deadlines that correspond with the conference planning process. Please see below and read carefully.

Session suggestions are due Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Keynote abstracts are due Friday, May 9, 2025
Workshop, general session, and speed session abstracts are due Friday, June 27, 2025

What do Attendees Want?

Check out the list of ’26 Topic Suggestions from this year’s conference attendees. This is a list of trending needs, but understand the conference team is soliciting abstracts for all 12 disciplines identified above.

Have a Suggestion

If you have an idea for a topic and/or speaker and you don’t want to submit a proposal, you are encouraged to submit a topic suggestion for us to share with the IAPD/IPRA Conference Program Committees. Use the link above to create a profile and submit your suggestion.

For questions regarding your proposal, contact either IPRA Education Director Duane Smith at duane@ilipra.org or IAPD Director of Conferences & Education Sue Triphahn at striphahn@ilparks.org.