ICERES 2021 will be held in Virtual Conference Platform

Introduction

Following the success of International Conference on Environment, Resources and Earth Sciences (ICERES 2020), the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources (FENR) and the Asian Center for Water Research (CARE) together are going to hold the 2nd International Conference on Environment, Resources and Earth Sciences (ICERES 2021) in association with the HCMUT’s Biannual Conference on Science and Technology (the 17th Conference on Science and Technology).

In response to the current challenging situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICERES 2021 with the theme of “Integrated Environmental Technology and Management Solutions for Sustainable and Resilient Development” will be held on 29 October 2021  under the format of virtual conferences. This online conference will provide a forum for presentation and discussion about the nexus of environmental solutions at both international and local levels.

Given the above-mentioned theme, the ICERES 2021 Conference aims to cover a broad cutting-edge and the latest findings and outcomes from three (03) domains, including: Environmental Engineering; Natural Resources and Environmental Management; and Earth, Resources, and Environmental Informatics. The Conference proceedings with ISBN  would include all the accepted extended abstracts while the qualified papers will be published in Special issues in STDJ - Engineering & Technology and IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science.

All scientists, scholars, lecturers, graduate students, and students from universities, institutes, and research centers as well as managers and officials from relevant government departments, agencies, companies, and enterprises are cordially welcome and invited. Further and more detailed information can be found via the web link below:

http://conferences.hcmut.edu.vn/ICERES2021

Virtual Meeting Challenges

It cannot be denied that turning conventional conference into online format offers various advantages, such as cost and time saving, fast planning and set-up, wider outreach, etc. However, the online meetings do not come without their own challenges.

First, some technical issues like connection and audio problems can always happen even everything has been prepared correctly. To solve this problem, we asked for the pre-recorded videos from presenters to upload them online on conference platform and send the links to all the participants. People might find their favorite videos in advance to preview and have more time to talk and bring up discussions during live sessions.

Second, with participants from different time zones, it may struggle to find a time that complements everyone's schedules. Based on the analysis of attendees' nationalities, we selected an appropriate start time. Pre-recorded videos also help with this, and discussion will be held when the presenters are available and online at their convenient time.

Third, the gaps in communication may be one of the most common meeting challenges since it is not always easy to get your exact point across via a virtual meeting. It can lead to the reduced focus and productivity and people may miss out on crucial information, a serious meeting challenge. We've found that the built-in captioning functionality on the Google Meet platform is a great tool to address this problem, with many available language options. A meeting agenda will be sent out before the time thus all meeting participants would know exactly what outcome they can expect from the conference.

Finally, the minimal audience interaction and the poor networking with other researchers are inevitable. Any attempt to let attendees open their mics easily tended to end in a chaos of feedback and background noise. In this case, a brief introduction from each attendee at the beginning of live session may be helpful. Not only does it help members test their equipment, but it also helps them uncover potential leads for subsequent exchanges. Besides that, we also provide meeting plan with instruction sets so that participants are not confused about the process. A routine for sessions is guided with specific steps or actions so that people feel more comfortable and enables everyone to function appropriately.

The way forward

The current Covid-19 situation is forcing people to put things in perspective and wonder about the future of everything. Scientific conferences, currently impacted, turn to online format to serve as platform for knowledge dissemination. This move is totally justified and understandable as the world realize the benefits of virtual conferences. Apart from time and money savings, virtual meetings are customizable, require fewer logistics, offer better access options, and enhance reporting. Classic assemblies have the unique advantage of allowing human contact and natural social interactions. Which, in turn, can prove indispensable in some cases of important meetings. People and organizations are still getting accustomed to virtual technology. Knowing the pros and cons of a virtual conference, we are in a better position to take the scientific event to new heights of success.