river in the forest

Types of Proposals for the GEO Symposium

Members of the GEO community, especially those involved in GEO Work Programme activities, are encouraged to submit proposals for a range of session and activity types for the upcoming GEO Symposium. Available formats include Community Events, Showcases, Posters, and News Releases. Below you will find a description of each option to help guide your selection.

Proposal Types

Community Event 
Format: Interactive thematic sessions with multi-speaker / panel + audience engagement)
Duration: 75 minutes
Total available slots: 2–3 concurrent tracks; ~20 sessions total
Key guidance: 
  • User(s) as presenters/panelists prioritized. 
  • Joint applications across multiple GWP activities prioritized. 
Showcase
Format: Single talk pitching a new idea or demonstration of a digital product 
Duration: 15 minutes including brief Q&A 
Total available slots: Integrated into one Community Event track; 5 showcase per session; ~15 in total
Key guidance: User perspectives / co-presenters prioritized. 
Poster
Format: A0 printed posters displayed throughout the Symposium 
Total available slots: Up to 20 Posters
Key guidance: User perspectives/testimonials prioritized.
News Release 
Format: Major announcements on GWP achievements (such as new funding, new partnership, etc) since May 2025 
Total available slots: Limited screen/time space; items may be featured on screen and in plenary and social media channels based on significance. 
Key guidance: Priority for announcements demonstrating tangible user benefit or uptake. 

General Criteria

Proposal types must address ≥1 topics aligned with the Symposium Theme ‘Investing in Earth Intelligence for a Resilient Future’: 

  • Impact/user stories
  • Investment models
  • Partnerships including with private sector
  • New open data release
  • New EO-to-benefit approaches

Proposal types must respond to ≥1 GWP focus areas:  

  • Agriculture and Food Security
  • Water and land Sustainability
  • Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Carbon management
  • Weather Hazard and Disaster Resilience
  • Climate, Energy and Urbanization
  • One Health
  • Open Data, Open Knowledge and Infrastructure

Process

The community will submit event proposals through the registration process. 
The Symposium Programme Committee will evaluate and select proposals;  
For Community Events, similar submissions may be merged.  
Selected proposers will then be invited to submit full proposal details. 

Timeline

15 December 2025:
Call for proposals opens. 
15 February 2026:
Proposal submission deadline. 
31 March 2026:
Notification for selection results issued. 
30 April 2026:
Selected Community Events and Showcases submit session details (agenda; speaker bios and photos) for publication on the symposium website 
15 May 2026:
Deadline for submitting presentation files, media files, poster PDFs, cleared text/media for News Release items.
26 May 2026:
On-site placement of posters.
12 June 2026:
Community event organizers submit brief outcome reports.