Call for Proposals

Dates: May 20 to 22, 2026 

Location: Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC

Submit Your Session Proposal!

Thank you for your interest in presenting at the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC 2026 Conference: Building Stronger Community Through Outdoor Recreation.

This gathering will bring together leaders, practitioners, researchers, advocates, and enthusiasts from across the recreation sector to explore how outdoor recreation can strengthen community, foster environmental stewardship, and prepare us for the future.  

We invite you to contribute your expertise, creativity, and experience to help shape a strong, connected, and forward-looking recreation community. We’re looking for proposals for presentations, panels, workshops, skill-sharing sessions, and more. 

We hope the following information will help you develop your ideas. If you need any more information or have questions please reach out to Ryan Stuart, the manager for community engagement, at ryanstuart@orcbc.ca 

Conference Goals  

Our conference title, Building Stronger Community through Outdoor Recreation, is about uniting the recreation sector behind shared challenges and opportunities. Together, we aim to:  

• Meet, mingle and learn from each other.  

• Strengthen bonds across organizations, communities, and sectors.  

• Provide a platform for skill development and relationship building.  

• Champion the many benefits of recreation: social, cultural, environmental, and economic.  

• Celebrate everything we have accomplished over the last 50 years.

And set up the outdoor recreation ecosystem to thrive for the next 50 years (and beyond!).

Proposals

We welcome everyone to submit a proposal. We want lessons learned, new strategies, fresh research or creative projects that will bring people together, spark new ideas, and help solve our challenges. Ideas can be fully developed presentations, the seed of something, or somewhere in between. It can even just be something you want to learn about. We want to hear from seasoned presenters and newbies, alike. 

We especially welcome ideas that fit within our conference themes:

Future Ready  Preparing the outdoor recreation sector for the next 50 years.  

Topics could include:  

• Responding to climate change and environmental challenges  

• Managing complex land use planning environments  

• Building relationships with Indigenous communities  

• Youth engagement and leadership development  

• Sustainable and diverse funding for non-profits  

• Aligning outdoor recreation with research and academia  

• Integrating recreation and active transportation  

• Partnership-building for long-term sector resilience  

Sharing the Trails  Creating shared visions for land, water, and natural spaces.  

Topics could include:  

• Wildlife conservation and habitat protection  

• Ecosystem stewardship through recreation  

• Conflict reduction among recreationists and stakeholders  

• Trail behavior management and education  

• Trail network planning and monitoring  

• Partnerships across recreation, tourism, gear makers 

• Collaborative consumer education and data sharing

• Innovative relationships with the manufacturing and retail sectors  

Government Relations  Building strong relationships with governments and agencies.  

Topics could include:  

• Long term access to recreation backroads and wild spaces  

• The basics of lobbying and speaking with elected representatives

• Outdoor recreation’s role in economic development  

• Partnerships with BC Parks, RSTBC, municipalities, and tourism organizations (Section 56 and 57 success stories!)

• Supporting treaties, IPCAs, and First Nations relationship building  

• Equitable approaches to land use planning (FLP, LUP)  

• Policy education and effective management of emerging issues (e.g., e-bikes)  

Stronger Non-Profits  Fostering resilient, sustainable organizations.  

Topics could include:  

• Volunteer engagement, recruitment, and retention  

• Building and growing membership  

• Board training and leadership development  

• Creative fundraising and diversified revenue strategies  

• Youth engagement in non-profits  

• Building stronger community connections  

Proposals that combine conference themes with our priority interests will receive extra attention in our selection process. Our priorities include:

• Youth Engagement: how to encourage young people to take an active role in non-profit clubs and outdoor recreation

• Indigenous reconciliation: how to use outdoor recreation to build trustful and reciprocal relationships with First Nations 

• Economic development: how can outdoor recreation drive sustainable economic growth

• Recreation planning: how to develop a planning ecosystem that nurtures a vibrant outdoor recreation ecosystem

• Sustainable funding: how to develop an equitable and resilient funding model for building and maintaining outdoor recreation in B.C.

• Volunteer recruitment: how to attract and nurture volunteers to create powerful non-profits. 

Even better, surprise us

Don’t feel constrained by any of our themes or interests. This is your conference. You’re the experts. We’re open to any idea that helps our community grow stronger, wiser, and more connected. 

Proposal Formats  

When you submit your proposal we will ask how you plan to present it. We welcome a range of presentation formats:  

• Presentations (10 to 15 minutes plus Q&A)

• Sharing examples of good work

• Storytelling and lived-experiences

• Research spotlights (academic or applied research that informs practice)

• Panel discussions (multiple speakers discussing a topic, 60–75 minutes)  

• Workshops or skill-sharing sessions (interactive formats)  

• Roundtables and open forums (collaborative discussions on shared issues)  

• Or whatever format you think would work best. 

Submission Guidelines  

Please submit your proposal via our simple form. Click here or paste this link into your browser.

Here is what you will need:

1. Title of your presentation 

2. Name(s), organization(s), and contact information of presenters  

3. Abstract (max. 250 words) describing your topic and relevance  

4. Expected learning outcomes for participants  

5. Preferred format (presentation, panel, workshop, etc.) 

6. Why you want to present at the conference  

7. Technical needs (A/V, space requirements, materials, etc.)  

Important Dates  

Deadline for proposals: October 31, 2025

Notification of acceptance: early January 2026 

For questions, please contact: Ryan Stuart, ryanstuart@orcbc.ca  

We look forward to receiving your submission and to building a stronger recreation community together at the 2026 ORCBC Conference.  

If you’re looking for opportunities to join our exhibition area or other sponsorship options, please see our sponsorship package.