Code of Conduct & Contact Officers
Contact Officers
ICCB 2025 will have a number of on-site contact officers who can be approached with concerns about behaviour or safety at the conference. Our contact officers are:
- Courtney Melton - courtneymelton.scb@gmail.com
- Natalie Forsdick - forsdickn@landcareresearch.co.nz
- Vanessa Adams - vm.adams@utas.edu.au
In addition, the SCB ombuds group is an independent, neutral, and confidential resource for members of the SCB community who are concerned about behavior of staff, governors, members or other functionaries of SCB.
SCB Ombuds representative at ICCB:
Blake Simmons - scbombuds@conbio.org
32nd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2025) Code of Conduct and SCB Oceania Anti-discrimination, Bullying, and Harassment Policy and Grievance Resolution Procedure
The hosts of ICCB 2025 - the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) and Society for Conservation Biology Oceania (SCBO), acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters that the conference takes place on, theTurrbal and Jagera peoples, and extends that acknowledgment to all Indigenous people and custodians who are travelling to attend.
SCB and SCBO strive to promote a welcoming environment at conferences that is safe, collaborative, supportive, inclusive, and productive for all attendees and service providers. SCB and SCBO value the diversity of views, expertise, opinions, backgrounds, and experiences reflected among attendees.
ICCB 2025 is about bringing together conservation professionals from all over the world, including traditional knowledge holders, researchers, practitioners and students, to energise our shared discipline. Our philosophy is to provide a safe and inclusive space that is accessible for people of all cultures, backgrounds and identities including anyone who identifies as LQBTQIA+ to share their insights, knowledge, and research with the shared aim of addressing conservation challenges and advancing conservation science and practice.
Topics arising during the meeting are bound to inspire and motivate but may also arouse debate, and strong disagreements may occur. We see this as an asset – it is our explicit mission to set up a space where these discussions can happen openly. However, there is a line between debate and disrespect – and if that line is crossed, the space is no longer productive. We intend that ICCB 2025 will offer a safe, equitable, inspiring space for delegates from around the world. Our respectful dialogue policy asks that participants maintain constructive discourse with other conference attendees at all times.
To that end, all ICCB 2025 delegates and guests are expected to adhere to the following ICCB 2025 Code of Conduct, which outlines expected behaviour at the congress, how to report unacceptable behaviour, and potential consequences for violations.
As ICCB 2025 is jointly hosted by SCB and SCB Oceania, additional alignment with regional standards is provided through the SCB Oceania’s “Anti-discrimination, Bullying, and Harassment Policy and Grievance Resolution Procedure.” This policy aligns with SCBO’s organisational processes and is informed by Australia’s Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022.
Expected Behaviour
• Treat everyone with respect and consideration.
• Communicate openly and thoughtfully with others and be considerate of the multitude of views and opinions that are different from your own.
• Be respectful and mindful in your critique of ideas. Always respectfully and constructively critique ideas, not individuals.
• Value the opportunity to learn from different perspectives. We can respect another person’s point of view without agreeing with them.
• Find ways to question ideas with respect for people. Be open to others challenging your ideas in a respectful way.
• Be considerate of non-native speakers. When you talk with non-native English speakers, be tolerant of any linguistic mistakes, non-native-like English usage, clumsiness, or slowness.
• Make Space - step up if you have something valuable to add, and step back to allow others the space to speak up.
• Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants.
• When safe and appropriate to do so, hold others accountable to maintaining the Code of Conduct by identifying any unacceptable behaviour (see below) and encouraging expected behaviour.
• Alert an ICCB 2025 Contact Officer if you feel unsafe, notice a potentially dangerous situation or someone in distress, or observe unacceptable behaviour.
• Respect the rules and policies of the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre: and all other venues associated with ICCB 2025 events (for example workshops, social events, student day events).
• When attending ICCB 2025 and associated events, comply with the instructions from ICCB 2025 Contact Officers and security staff associated with the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and other venues associated with ICCB 2025 events.
Unacceptable Behaviour
• Harassment and intimidation, including any verbal, written, or physical conduct designed to threaten, bully, intimidate, or coerce another delegate, volunteer, representative of a conference sponsor, conference organizers, invited persons including cultural leaders and any performers/artists, or venue staff.
• Discrimination, including that based on gender or identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, or culture. • Physical, verbal, or written (including electronic/social media) abuse of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, SCB staff member, service provider or other meeting guest.
• Disrespectful or deliberate disruption of presentations.
• Other examples of unacceptable behaviour also include, but are not limited to: inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations; bullying, threatening, or stalking any ICCB 2025 participant (including on electronic/social media); sexually harassing any ICCB 2025 participant.
Consequences
• Anyone who is asked to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately.
• ICCB 2025 staff (or their designee) or security may take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the meeting without warning and potentially without refund.
• SCB reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting for occurrences of unacceptable behaviour.
Reporting Unacceptable Behaviour
• If you are the subject of unacceptable behaviour or have witnessed any such behaviour, please immediately notify an ICCB 2025 Contact Officer(s) or ICCB 2025 Steering Committee member.
• For delegates who wish to lodge a complaint of harassment, trained ICCB 2025 Contact Officers will be available and readily identifiable. Notification should be undertaken by contacting an ICCB 2025 Safety Officer on-site in person, by phone or electronically. Contact Officer details will be available on the ICCB 2025 website and in the ICCB 2025 conference app.
• For matters of immediate physical safety, you may also approach a member of venue security or Australian police/emergency services.
• Reporting of unacceptable behaviour should never be done via social media.