Call for Submissions

The 2025 Citizen Zoo Rewilding Conference will host attendees from around the world to explore and shape the future of rewilding as a vital strategy for nature recovery. The goals, objectives and themes in the link below (in no order of priority), are intended to provide a blueprint for ideas for talks, discussions and workshops that attendees and speakers can present, that falls under the conference theme of ‘Rewilding Futures: Shaping Tomorrow’s Wild’. We envision this conference as an important contributor in shaping the future of rewilding globally - an opportunity to explore emerging trends, foster innovation, and build meaningful partnerships. 

True to the spirit of rewilding, we want to avoid prescribing specific outcomes. Instead, we aim to create an open, dynamic space for discussion, free thought, and creativity - a fertile ground for fresh ideas and collaboration. With this in mind, we invite you to submit proposals for presentations and workshops on topics that you believe should be part of the event. If your topic is forward-looking and abides by the conference theme, and also embodies a message of hope for the future of rewilding in any context, we want to hear from you! To assist you in crafting your proposal, we've outlined a few themes, goals, and objectives below that may serve as a helpful guide.

Applications 

We are excited to invite applications for session proposals for our upcoming Rewilding Futures: Shaping Tomorrow’s Wild conference. This event will bring together global perspectives on rewilding, with Day 1 featuring talks, lectures, and panel discussions in the main auditorium, and Day 2 offering up to 90 different activities across the David Attenborough Building. We encourage creative and diverse submissions that align with the key conference theme, and have included some thematic ideas to explore in the link.  

Explore here.

Some examples of activities you might propose include: 

• Workshops 

• Panel discussions 

• Lectures or presentations 

• Breakout sessions 

• Roundtable discussions 

• Networking sessions 

• Live demonstrations 

• Interactive debates 

• Hackathons or challenges 

• Q&A sessions 

• Exhibitions or booths 

Please note, poster presentations will not be included. 

Important Information: 

• Application Deadline: 24th October at 23:55 

• Ticket Requirement: All successful applicants, including co-organisers, will need to register and purchase a ticket for the event. 

Acceptance of your proposal does not include a complimentary ticket. We look forward to receiving your submission! 

Ideas

• Share Global Insights and Emerging Themes: Integrate insights from rewilding projects around the world to provide a comprehensive perspective on best practices, challenges, and innovations that will help scale future rewilding practices. Highlighting diverse experiences from across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australasia, to demonstrate rewilding’s adaptability and benefits across different ecosystems and communities. 

• Scale Up and Transform Rewilding Efforts: Explore strategies for expanding and innovating rewilding initiatives from local to national and global levels. Discuss how lessons learned from successful projects worldwide can be adapted to different ecological, cultural, and economic contexts to achieve broader impact. And explore holistic approaches that emphasise the interconnectedness of ecosystems across large areas rather than isolated projects.

• Explore Financing and Funding Barriers: Examine the financial challenges of scaling rewilding efforts, drawing on insights from other sectors such as climate resilience and the green transition. Discuss innovative financing mechanisms, such as green bonds, financial credits/instruments, public-private partnerships, and conservation finance models, to secure sustainable funding for rewilding projects.

• Address Barriers and Opportunities: Identify and tackle the economic, social, and political challenges to rewilding, such as land use conflicts, regulatory constraints, and funding limitations. Develop innovative solutions and frameworks to create enabling environments for rewilding at multiple scales.

• Explore Challenges and Controversies: Delve into the difficulties and negative perceptions associated with rewilding, such as concerns about land use changes, economic impacts on local communities, and potential conflicts with traditional agricultural practices. Explore how these issues vary across different regions and scales and discuss strategies to address them.

• Champion the Intrinsic Value of Nature: Promote rewilding to honour the inherent worth of natural landscapes and ecosystems. Foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of nature’s right to exist and thrive without human exploitation, emphasising the importance of biodiversity and natural beauty for cultural and spiritual enrichment.

• Highlight Utilitarian Benefits: Outline the practical benefits of rewilding, such as enhancing ecosystem services that support human well-being—clean air and water, flood prevention, carbon sequestration, and soil health. Demonstrate how rewilding can contribute to sustainable agriculture, tourism, and rural development, providing economic opportunities and building resilience against climate change impacts.

• Foster Collaborative Networks and Partnerships: Encourage collaboration between stakeholders to enhance rewilding efforts. Promote community engagement and cross-sector partnerships to ensure rewilding initiatives are sustainable and inclusive, benefitting both nature and people.

• Develop Future Roadmaps and Policy Advocacy: Create actionable roadmaps and policy frameworks that support the expansion of rewilding efforts. Advocate for supportive legislation, sustainable funding models, and integrated land-use planning that prioritise ecological recovery and conservation. 

• Inspire Action and Collaboration: Foster a collaborative environment for stakeholders to share best practices, success stories, hope, and challenges in rewilding projects. Promote partnerships between governmental, non-governmental, and private sectors to enhance conservation efforts. 

• Harnessing Technology: Explore the potential of technology as a powerful enabler of rewilding. Discuss how innovations such as satellite monitoring, drones, AI-driven data analysis, and ecological modelling can be used to monitor ecosystems, assess biodiversity, and plan large-scale rewilding efforts more effectively and at lower cost. 

• Health and Wellbeing: Investigate the links to public health, with a particular focus on how nature recovery at scale can contribute to human well-being. Examine how rewilded landscapes promote mental and physical health, potentially reducing healthcare/insurance costs.