2025 Provincial Conference Call for Papers – Extended

April 15, 2025
Alberta

The 2025 Provincial Child and Youth Care Conference

Gull Lake Centre, Alberta

October 3-5, 2025

“Engage and Empower: Experiential and Activity-based CYC Practice”

Call for Papers

Are you a frontline CYC practitioner with powerful stories, creative activities, or hands-on experience that others could learn from?

You don’t need to be a polished speaker or academic to share your wisdom. The 2025 CYCAA Conference is all about real, grounded, experience-based practice—and that means your voice matters.

We’re extending our Call for Papers and inviting frontline workers, youth care professionals, and practitioners of all kinds to submit proposals for workshops, talks, or experiential sessions that reflect the heart of this year’s theme.

Whether you’ve led impactful group activities, built strong connections with youth through play, or developed unique engagement tools — we want to hear from you!

Deadline April 15, 2025

Deadline EXTENDED to April 30, 2025

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The Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta (CYCAA) is pleased to be hosting the Provincial Child and Youth Care Conference, October 3-5, 2025, at the Gull Lake Centre, located in the Village of Gull Lake, situated in the magnificent plains of Alberta just west of Lacombe. Gull Lake is in Treaty 6 territory, the traditional home, and meeting ground for many Indigenous peoples, including the Blackfoot, Cree, Dene, Stoney, and Métis.
We have chosen “Engage and Empower: Experiential and Activity-based CYC Practice” as our theme for the conference.
We invite Child and Youth Care professionals to submit proposals focused on advancing best practice and enhancing program delivery through innovative approaches. This conference will feature interactive workshops that explore how play and creative interventions can be used when working with children, youth, and families. Presenters are encouraged to introduce new ideas, share emerging trends, and facilitate interactive activities and discussions. Through experiential learning, participants will gain practical knowledge and tools to strengthen their impact and effectiveness in the field.
We request that presenters consider the “Engage and Empower: Experiential and Activity-based CYC Practice” perspective to their presentation. Related topics may include evidence-based practice, innovative approaches to treatment, challenges to practice, staff wellness, topics related to mental health and treatment of mental health issues, working with families, incorporation of traditional practices and ways of knowing, inclusion, and/or anti-oppressive practices.

To submit a presentation, please provide detailed information as outlined on the provided document.

Please be advised that the Conference Committee will select the successful presentations. The committee will review all potential presentations and will respond to all submissions with a decision.