Paper Submission

There are three presentation formats on offer at ANCOLD 2022. Please consider which format will suit you and your paper. Both presentation formats require a full paper to be submitted.

We will also accept papers as “publish only” for those not wishing to present at the conference.

1/ Oral Presentation

This format is for confident individuals who will be allocated around 12 minutes to present their paper – as a concise and compelling oral presentation, with accompanying PowerPoint presentation slides. There will also be a time allowance for questions and answers from the floor, to be held at the conclusion of each session.

2/ Posters

Poster sessions may be suitable for those who have not completed their research, or are seeking information, views etc. from other interested parties. This format is also available to those authors who are (i) not selected to deliver their paper as an oral presentation, or (ii) do not wish to deliver an oral presentation.

Participants will be required to prepare a display which will be mounted on a display panel in a designated poster area at the conference.

As part of the conference program, a General Reporter will provide a summary of your paper to the delegates, after which the authors will have an opportunity to answer questions during a poster defence session.

3/ Published paper only

This submission type allows for an opportunity to supply a written paper for publication in the conference proceedings without having to present the paper. All papers submitted in this manner will be published in the conference proceedings at the time of the conference and will be published on the ANCOLD website and submitted to the National Library after the conference.

Theme: Sustainable Dams in a Climate Change

 Sub-Themes:

Change to the operating landscape – new Guidelines and Regulations and their impact
Changes to dam safety regulations are requiring different things of dam owners.  Similarly new industry guidelines have been developed (or are in development) such as the recent ANCOLD Earthquake and Risk Guidelines.

• What changes have we seen and what impact is this having?
• What learnings can be shared from the development or application of these new guidelines?

Change in decision making frameworks – from standards based to risk informed
For some years the industry has been shifting towards risk based methods of assessment and design rather than the traditional standards based approach.  In some jurisdictions, the Regulations no longer acknowledge standards based approaches on their own, quantitative risk based systems are mandatory in design and assessment of dams.

• What changes is this bringing to the management of dam safety, both in terms of the dam safety management process itself and materially in terms of identification and implementation of risk reduction measures in practice.
• Has this influenced the scope and timing of dam safety improvements being made.
• How are dam safety risks understood and communicated to stakeholders.
• Learnings from application of recent risk based approach to dam design/dam safety (e.g. SFAIRP versus ALARP)?

Sustainable management of dams – whole of life management
Papers in this session may focus on life cycle management or specific aspects of the lifecycle in particular that lead to a safe and sustainable future for our dams.  This includes:

• governance
• dam operations and maintenance
• preparation, testing and execution of effective dam safety emergency responses
• development of effective dam safety management systems
• other aspects of dam safety management

Challenges in delivering risk reduction projects in a resource constrained environment
We are entering an era of increased dam design/construction, the industry is awash with activity (new dams, augmentations, dam safety upgrades).

• What are the related challenges/opportunities and how are they being solved?

Adoption and application of new technologies to enhance dam safety activities
From investigations and design through to operation, monitoring and knowledge management, technology is changing the way we work.

• What developments have we seen or can we expect in the industry and how will this contribute to the safe and sustainable future of our dams?
• How is technology changing the way we operate and maintain our dams
• What opportunities does this present in design and construction of major upgrades for sustainable practices and what are the limitations.

Climate change, net zero emissions and what this means for the dams industry
Australia and NZ’s federal governments have committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, as has much of the rest of the world. Meanwhile climate change has been observed and is forecast to continue.

• What can we be doing in the dams industry towards achieving emissions targets?
• What impact is climate change having on consequence assessments, design flood estimates and planning and design of new dams or dam upgrades?

Dams engineering challenges – case for hydropower and mixed use dams
With the global shift towards renewable energy, the industry is seeing renewed interest in hydropower and in particular pumped hydropower. There are now multiple new schemes underway in Australia and New Zealand and several more are due to follow.  Existing dams are being modified to serve mixed functions (such as pumped hydro or flood attenuation on existing water supply and irrigation dams).

• What dams engineering challenges apply with analysis, design, construction or operation of modern pumped hydropower or mixed use dams, both at a project level and/or for the industry as a whole.

Tailings dams in a climate of change

• Tailings closure challenges and success
• Risk assessment and management
• Response to regulatory change and industry guidelines
• Current and emerging technologies
• Design and construction innovations

In order to ensure high quality content for the Technical Program, the Local Organising Committee has selected a Technical Review Panel (TRP) to review and accept papers of the highest quality. The TRP will review the proposals and select the authors who will then be invited to submit a full paper.

Authors are requested to submit sufficient detail in their paper proposal to assist the TRP in the review process of the proposals. As a guide, the TRP will use the following criteria in evaluating:

• Is the topic relevant and important to the theme or sub-theme?
• Is the subject matter original or innovative?
• Will the paper add to the knowledge of delegates?
• Will the content attract readers’ attention?
• Is the writing style clear, concise & readable?
• Is the technical subject matter logical and valid?
• Is the content complete and of suitable quality?

Authors are therefore requested to submit proposals of up to 600 words to adequately address the above criteria. The abstract that you will include in the full paper will not necessarily be the same as that of your paper proposal; but should be revised and finessed once you have written the paper.

Please download the Paper Proposal Template and complete it before re-uploading to the portal.

New Submission

• Log in to the submission system via the Conference Website. You will need to create an online account first if you have not previously submitted – enter your email address and the password.
• You will be taken to a screen from which the submission process starts. Please read the instructions on this screen carefully. You will need to update your details before you can submit your proposal.
• Submitting a PROPOSAL is a multi-step process. Each step asks several questions. Some questions are marked “required”, and you will not be able to complete your submission until these questions have been answered.
• If you stop part way through the process, your submission will be held in temporary storage until you return and complete all the questions. When you log in again you can click on your incomplete proposal and resume submission.
• Make sure that you submit your proposal by agreeing to the Terms and Conditions before pressing the “Submit” button; any proposals left in ‘draft’ mode will not be submitted for review. You will receive a confirmation email for each successful proposal submitted. If you do not receive an email, log in again to check your proposal in “Edit Proposals”. Please note once you have submitted your proposal you cannot edit it again. However, you can leave your submission in “draft” mode and make changes up until the time you submit your proposal.

Amending a Submission in “draft” mode

You may wish to change your answers to some of the questions on the submission form, or even change the proposal file itself.

• Log in to the proposal submission system, click on the “Edit Proposals” tab.
• You will see a list of the proposals that you have in draft mode or have submitted. Click on the “Edit” button next to the draft proposal you wish to change and submit.
• Amending a proposal is just the same as for the original submission process, except that the online form will be automatically completed with the answers that you provided previously. You don’t have to change an answer if you do not wish to.

When you reach the final ‘Submit’ step, click on the button stating that you “Agree to the Terms and Conditions” and click “Submit”.  If this button is not available, look at the steps in the left-hand table and address the missing information that does not have a tick.

If you have any difficulties with your submission, or you do not receive a notification email once your proposal has been submitted, please contact lucy@leishman-associates.com.au

If you want to withdraw a proposal, please contact the papers coordinator Lucy Woodward.

Authors of accepted proposals will be asked to prepare a full paper, a copy of which will be provided to delegates as part of the Conference Proceedings and must register and present their paper at the time allocated within the Conference Program. Authors are reminded that all papers must be original and must not have been published elsewhere. Once selected for inclusion in the Conference Program, papers become the property of ANCOLD Inc.
Authors of oral presentations will have the opportunity to make a presentation and answer questions during a session selected by the organisers.

Please see Key Dates for more information on paper deadlines.  Given the very strict timeframes for the review process, extensions are only considered on a case by case basis and are not guaranteed to be granted.  If you are unable to meet the timelines stated, the Organisers reserve the right to withdraw your paper.

By submitting a proposal, you agree and understand the following:

• All authors who have their papers accepted for presentation must register and pay for their attendance, at a minimum, for the day of the Conference on which they are presenting. Accepted presenters will be given access to the Early Bird Registration rates. ANCOLD is unable to offer any financial assistance to submitting authors.
• All authors who have submitted have approval to travel and attend the event in person.
• By submitting a proposal, you acknowledge and accept the Key Dates noted above (including first draft paper to be uploaded, revised paper addressing reviewer comments and your Final Paper).  Extensions will not be granted beyond these dates
• Authors understand that all papers must be original and must not have been published elsewhere.