The Developing Grateful Communities, 2026 conference offers two distinct pathways for engagement. 

1. Learning: If you would like to participate primarily for Experiential Learning, with an emphasis on absorbing content, joining interactive workshops, and connecting with others, you are not required to present a paper. Instead, we ask that you submit a brief Statement of Interest(SOI). This statement, approximately 250 words in length, should include information about your background, the ways your work or interests align with the conference themes, and what you hope to gain from the three-day program.

2. Sharing: Participants may also choose the Sharing pathway by submitting an abstract that presents any novel ideas or existing work, whether practice-based or research-based, to be shared as a poster or paper. These submissions will be reviewed by the organising team and, if recommended, selected for presentation. Please note that the program’s primary aim is to offer an immersive learning environment, which means that only a very limited number of competitive oral and poster presentation slots will be available.

Proposals may present empirical investigations using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods designs that offer new evidence on the development, expression, and outcomes of gratitude; theoretical or conceptual contributions that refine existing models or propose novel frameworks grounded in scientific literature; or practitioner-oriented work that showcases evidence-based interventions, educational programs, community initiatives, or policy recommendations aimed at fostering gratitude within schools, families, organizations, and wider societal systems. 

Abstracts are expected to reflect originality and intellectual rigour, and may employ innovative modes of presentation where appropriate. Submissions should articulate well-designed, contextually adaptable approaches with the potential to inform practice within family, educational, community, or professional settings. Proposals should clearly demonstrate how the work contributes to advancing gratitude-based practices and to fostering environments in which gratitude can be meaningfully developed and sustained.

Abstracts should not exceed 350 words and must include a clear and concise title of no more than 12 words and three to five keywords. Submissions must be written in English, formatted in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced, and should not contain tables, figures, or complex formatting. 

Please include Name, Affiliation and Email Addresses of all the authors along with the Abstract.

To support rigorous scholarly review and relevance to the conference theme, the abstract should address four elements: a brief statement of context and objective that specifies the gap or problem addressed; a description of the methodology, theoretical or conceptual framework, or practice-based program; a summary of key findings or central insights; and a concluding statement that highlights the contribution of the work to promoting gratitude-based development, well-being, prosocial engagement, and community building. Additionally, let us know how the presentation fits with a specific subtheme of the conference. 

All submissions must represent original work that has not been published or accepted for presentation at any other international forum before December 2026. The conference particularly values contributions that demonstrate how gratitude can shape relational ethics, social responsibility, collective resilience, and long-term cultural or systemic change.

Maximum Submissions: An individual may be the First/Presenting Author on a maximum of two (2) unique submissions (either two oral, two posters, or one of each).

There is no limit to the number of abstracts an individual can co-author.

Duplicate Submissions (submitting the same abstract with only minor changes to multiple formats/categories) are strictly prohibited and will result in rejection.

Please note: Given the primary aim of creating an experiential learning environment, the number of presentation slots will be highly limited. Submissions will be selected based on quality, relevance to conference themes, and potential for generating engaging discussion.