I Encontro da ACBS Brasil
The First Meeting of ACBS Brasil - Driven by Love
The ACBS Brazil Chapter volunteers started organizing the congress in November 2019. We had to rethink the entire organization of the event when the pandemic struck our country in April. What seemed to be a threat to all of us actually made it possible to expand the congress, both in accessibility to different regions of Brazil and in getting a number of invaluable speakers to participate. The “First Meeting of ACBS Brasil” was held in August 2020. There were 98 activities, 96 Brazilian speakers, 24 international references, and 684 participants!
How was it done? Organizing this congress was an adventure and we had clear values to guide us:
- Dissemination of knowledge - our focus was to expand access to knowledge by inviting renowned speakers who generously and freely accepted our invitation. All foreign language activities were translated so that they were widely accessible to our Brazilian community.
- Diversity - our commission sought diversity in the types of Contextual Behavioral Therapies presented; the topics covered; and the nationalities, ethnicities and regions in Brazil the participants represented. Diversity brought a lot of beauty to the program and piqued interest in socially relevant themes related to ethnic, gender and sexuality prejudices.
- Equality - the work was done mostly by volunteers, with the goals of making the event more accessible and serving as a model of collaboration.
- Solidarity - the event funded 60 scholarship slots for attendees with financial need. Eleven more were donated by other event participants through a campaign that we conducted. In addition to the dissemination of knowledge, we wanted to enact the change that Contextual Science promotes where it was needed the most.
- Integration - all papers submitted to the congress were accepted and all activities were encouraged to be done collaboratively, either in pairs or in larger groups of speakers. One of the objectives of the event was to develop a network of people who study the same subject and to encourage them to work together.
- Joy – despite being an online event, we had several social activities, parties, time to share experiences, contests, sweepstakes and interviews during breaks. We sought to bring lightness and a little socializing in times of isolation.
The process of creating and organizing the congress was made possible by having an incredible group of people who were simply interested in helping and were willing to spend their Friday afternoons sharing ideas and dreaming about the best ways to carry out this event. It was extremely pleasant work and done with a lot of love from everyone involved. All ideas were welcomed, and we were excited to imagine new possibilities. As incredible as it may seem, there was no arguing or disagreement, and meetings were filled with laughter and joy. Decisions were made collectively and were guided by our shared values. Even when things went wrong, we would get together to collaborate and approach the problem in a novel way. It was a new milestone for everyone involved, both due to the experiences that we shared and the realization that it generated. We had a lot of help, too. We would like to express our gratitude to all the speakers that we had the honor to have with us, who reflect the essence of the ACBS community. Many thanks to the translators, sponsors and partners, and to all the participants who were together in this adventure.
Thank you!
Find out more about the ACBS Brazil Chapter
- Read the Brasil Chapter's webpage.
- Follow the Brasil Chapter on Facebook.
- To join the Brasil Chapter, please submit the chapter membership form.
I Encontro da ACBS Brasil volunteers
Organization: Michaele Terena Saban-Bernauer
ACBS Brasil President: Mara Lins
Organizing committee:
Ana Paula Moraes
Desirée da Cruz Cassado
Caroline Leão
Pierre Andrans Cerveira Motta
Ana Carmen Oliveira
Paulo Gomes de Sousa-Filho
Scientific commission:
Michaele Terena Saban-Bernauer
Matheus Bebber
Posters:
Caroline Leão
Social vacancies:
Ana Paula Moraes
Ligia Mosolino
Marcia Kameyama
Heloisa Ribeiro Zapparoli
Disclosure and advertising:
Caroline Leão
Pierre Andrans Cerveira Motta
Heloisa Ribeiro Zapparoli
Gifts:
Regina Célia Ap. Sanches
Rafaela Dias
Social event:
Pierre Andrans Cerveira Motta
Paulo Gomes de Sousa-Filho
Table coordinators:
João Henrique de Almeida
André Porto Humberto
Stélios Sant'Anna Sdoukos
Roberta Kovac
Jessica Ribeiro
Rachel Sepe
Celina Yoshie Tanaka
Nayara Rodrigues de Oliveira
Landerson Carlos Martins de Souza
Ana Teresa Stival Coelho
Larissa Schafranski
Lucas Augusto
Carolina Mesquita de Oliveira
Ana Katarine dos Santos Silva
José Ignacio Cruz Gaitán
Alessandra Villas-Bôas
Bruna Resende Teixeira
Weslley Gomes Carneiro
Liane Dahás
Caroline Cristine da Silveira
And other organizers
Subtitles translation:
Mara Lins
Beatriz Queiroz Brilhante da Silva
Fernanda Lisbôa de Siqueira
Nathalia do Nascimento Vieira
Lucas Augusto
Giovani Gatto
Débora Callegari Hertzog
Spanish translation:
Mara Lins
José Ignacio Cruz Gaitán
Matheus Bebber
Contracted translation:
Angela Silveira
Wilney Giozza
Amanda Ramos Francisco
Staff:
Tatiana Plácido Funcia Simões
Leila Danielle Martins Soares
Site:
Jean Curti
Behavioral boteco (interviews):
Felipe Epaminondas
César Rocha
Videos:
Gustavo Camargo de Souza
João Vitor Souza Ferez