The Asia-Pacific Region (APAC)

IMPACT communities through regionally-focused initiatives

The 2026 Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Bangkok, Thailand

Main Conference Dates: Sept 19-20, 2026 | Pre-Conference Dates: Sept 16-18

Hosted at the NIST International School in partnership with the JUMP! Foundation & AEE

36 Sukhumvit Soi 15, Sukhumvit Road, Klongtoey-nua
Wattana, Bangkok, 10110 Thailand

The Symposium on Experiential Education Research – Asia (save the date!)

The Symposium on Experiential Education Research – Asia (SEER Asia) will occur on 18th September 2026 as a pre-conference event of the Asia Pacific Regional AEE Conference, being convened in Bangkok, Thailand.

This is a free pre-conference event with the view to establish this as a recurring event at all future AEE Asia Pacific regional conferences.

The Symposium on Experiential Education Research in Asia provides a regional outlet and venue for researchers in fields that use experiential education to present, share, dialogue, and further develop their research ideas.

The symposium involves the presentation of research papers from scholars based in the Asia Pacific who use and research experiential education practices. It is intended to cultivate a regional community of practice and emphasis will be given to countries with lower scholarly representation. The Singapore University of Social Sciences is the knowledge partner for this event.

The objectives of SEER Asia are:

· To establish a regional community of practice for scholars and practitioners interested in experiential education research

· To support emerging scholars in sharing research findings

· To build a repository of experiential education research contextual to Asia and publish this annually in a booklet of proceedings.

· To provide scholars with this platform for local dissemination of experiential education research ¹

· To support submissions to be translated into languages for local dissemination to facilitate sharing with local educators and educational authorities

· To provide mentoring by experienced scholars in Asia

· To build a peer network

^{1 currently there are no platforms for local dissemination of research in Asia, with experiential education and outdoor learning journals being published in the USA, UK and Australia.}

The process by which papers are selected for SEER begins when a call for papers is released by AEE asking researchers, graduate students, and research/practitioners to submit abstracts to a peer-reviewed process facilitated by the co-chairs of SEER Asia. Abstracts are sent out for review to a panel of scholars/researchers.

Abstracts are reviewed for relevance to experiential education theory and practice, research methodology, and logic and clarity in writing. The papers are ranked, and the top abstracts are selected for oral or poster presentations at the annual International AEE Conference.

Each presenter is allotted 20 minutes to present her/his/their research, which typically includes an introduction, a description of the methods employed, and the results and conclusions developed from the research. In addition to the papers presented, discussant remarks have been offered each year by leading scholars and practitioners in experiential education theory and practice. This has provided an opportunity for the initiation of substantive dialogue around current research.

In addition to the presentations, the abstracts will be published as a booklet of proceedings, which is distributed at the conference and electronically, which will serve as a repository for regional research about experiential education. Reading these abstracts is a great way to get a glimpse of current research interests and innovative research methodologies used for experiential education research. SEER – Asia is inspired by the main SEER event which occurs at the annual AEE Conference in North America and is in its 24th year.

The first SEER took place at the Association for Experiential Education’s (AEE) 2001 International Conference in Charleston, West Virginia. Dr. Alan Ewert of Indiana University conceived of and led the effort to establish that first SEER. A widely published researcher and author in the field of adventure-based education, Dr. Ewert is also known for his distinguished career in academia, three decades as an Outward Bound instructor, the Patricia and Joel Meier Endowed Outdoor Leadership Chair, past editor of the Journal of Experiential Education (JEE), and as a fellow and past president of the prestigious Academy of Leisure Sciences. The Symposium on Experiential Education Research has convened annually since this time, as part of the AEE International conference in North America.

We trust that SEER – Asia is intended to be a place for researchers and practitioners alike to consider new ideas, develop furthered strategies, and contemplate alternative offerings throughout the field of experiential education.

We hope you can join us in Bangkok in 2026!

Past Conferences

2023 Conference: Singapore

2024 Conference: Pune, India

2025 Conference: Hong Kong

GET INVOLVED

If you have questions for the Regional Council or would like to get involved, please email APACregion@aee.org

Roles of the Regional Council:

• provide continuity and leadership for the Region.
  
• act as the decision making body for the Region; accepting both authority and responsibility for decisions, actions and activities.
  
• maintain communication with AEE staff, members of the Conference Committee, and other AEE leadership bodies including other Regional Councils.
  
• maintain intra-communication with Regional members to provide membership services and to promote the organizations ends, mission, and vision within the region.
  
• actively support AEE’s values, mission, vision and operational goals.

Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Oceania, the Russian Far East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.