Welcome to the Side Events and Exhibits Online Registration System (SEORS)

Please select a session below or click here to browse the archive:

• ADP 2.5 Virtual Expo

• ADP 2.6 Virtual Expo

• SBSTA Virtual Platform for Exchange with Observers

• COP 20/CMP 10

• UN Climate Change Conference June 2015 (SB 42)

• COP 21/CMP 11

Application period for SB 42:

Application period for COP 21/CMP 11:

ELIGIBILITY

AVAILABILITY

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please click on the following link to access SEORS and select the conference for which you wish to submit a Side Event and/or an Exhibit application: http://seors.unfccc.int/seors?session_id=-

During the application period an “Apply for” button will appear on the respective SEORS conference page, which will allow users to create a personal account through which applications can be submitted. Please note that all applicants must register for a new personal account in SEORS for each session. Your user name and password from the previous sessions do not work.

1. Create your personal account: In order to create a personal account, please click on the "Apply for" button and enter all information as requested. Upon completion of the registration process you will receive an automated message that includes your login credentials. In case of technical problems please first refer to the FAQ on the bottom of this section, before contacting the secretariat. Kindly note that due to high demand it might take up to one hour until you receive your login credentials.
2. Logging into your personal account: Please follow the link provided in the automated message in order to log into your personal account. Alternatively you may click on “click here to login” at the top of the SEORS homepage.
3. Enter your application details: After logging into your personal account, please select either “click to create a Side Event” or “click to create an Exhibit” and enter the following information:
   • Title (Side Events): max. 100 characters INCLUDING SPACES, any characters exceeding this limitation will automatically be cut off
   • Theme: max. 300 characters INCLUDING SPACES, any characters exceeding this limitation will automatically be cut off
   • Preferred date and time (Side Events): In case your application is successful, the secretariat will consider your preference to the extent possible.
   • Preferred date and time (Exhibits: 1st week/2nd week, optional: full conference period): In case your application is successful the secretariat will consider your preference to the extent possible.
   • Anticipated number of attendance (Side Events)
   • Contact person on-site (if different from the applicant); name, e-mail and mobile number
   • Additional comments: If applicable, please provide the secretariat with additional information on your application (background information/co-organizer/speakers/restrictions regarding date and time etc.)
   Note: If your application is successful the contact details of the applicant (not the contact person on-site), title and theme of your Side Event/Exhibit will be published on our website.
4. Request authorization: Your application can only be considered by the secretariat if it is authorized by the National Focal Point (NFP) in case of a Party application or by the Designated Contact Point (DCP) in case of an observer organization application. After you have entered your application details, your application will appear in a text box in your personal account. In the "action" column of this box you will find a link to automatically "request authorization" from your NFP/DCP. Your NFP/DCP will then receive an automated message that asks for authorization or turndown. The “status” column displays the status of your application. Any change in status will also be communicated to you via email. If your application receives authorization by your NFP/DCP it moves to “negotiation” stage. Only applications in “negotiation” stage will be considered by the secretariat. Those applications which were turned down by the NFP/DCP will move back to “draft” stage and cannot be considered by the secretariat.
5. Communicate with the secretariat: Please use the “communicate” function in the “action” column of your personal account to communicate with the secretariat on any issues regarding your application. A communication log will be kept in your personal account for your reference. Due to the high number of applications the communication log serves as an ideal channel to keep all information in one place.
6. Confirmation/Decline: The secretariat will begin allocation of the authorized applications and aim to complete the confirmation by approximately one month prior to the conference. The secretariat may have to decline some of the applications due to space constraint at the venues. An automated message will be sent to the applicants informing them that their application has been confirmed or declined. Once the confirmation is made, no changes can be made to the application. If you wish to change the confirmed date or time, please seek at your own initiative an organizer who agrees to swap slots with you, and inform the secretariat accordingly of such a proposed swop through SEORS. The secretariat will thereafter decide whether this is acceptable, subject to the prevailing criteria, and inform you accordingly.
7. Cancellation: A cancellation can only be processed if received from the organizer via email to see@unfccc.int, copying the respective NFP/DCP.
8. Uploading attachments to the web schedule: If your application is confirmed you will be able to upload information pertaining to your Side Event/Exhibit to our website. Please use the upload facilities in your personal account for this purpose (refer to the FAQ for more details).

N.B.: How to prepare joint applications/propose mergers within SEORS
To increase your chance of getting a slot, we advise you to make a merged side event application, which is one of the selection criteria as published below. SEORS does not allow a 'pre-merged' application since it just shows single side events, with no initial fields for lead and co-applicants. The lead and co-applicant/s should therefore apply separately, with separate authorizations by the NFP/DCP of each applicant. Thereafter, once the applications are authorized, applicants should follow the 'merger' function within SEORS to effect the merger.
The screen will indicate who (to appear as lead) is merging with whom (to appear as co-applicant/s). Subsequent automated messages will also indicate who is the lead and who is the co-applicant/s. The system allows for more than one co-applicant. The more co-applicants there are, the higher the chance of getting a slot will be.

SELECTION AND ALLOCATION CRITERIA

• Following criteria are taken into consideration for the selection of side events and exhibits:
  1. One application per Party/observer organization, if the number of applications exceeds the number of available slots;
  2. Joint applications of Parties and observer organizations, or among observer organizations;
  3. Applications from NGOs in Non-Annex I countries;
  4. Assessment of relevance to issues under discussion/negotiation at the particular session;
  5. Balance among observer constituencies;
  6. Balance among topic themes; and
  7. Track record of side event organizers in uploading presentations and relevant documents onto their own SEORS account*.
• Following criteria are taken into consideration for the allocation of side events and exhibits:
  1. Feasibility and preference on certain dates;
  2. Avoidance of thematic overlaps per time slot (side events only);
  3. Alignment of similar themes in the same room (side events only); and
  4. Size of the expected participation level and room size (side events only).
  * The recommendation of the Linköping University publication entitled “The function of side events at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” (ISBN 978-91-7393-765-8), as published by the Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research, clearly illustrates that there is a weakness in how side event outcomes are disseminated by event organizers. It is recommended that “at a bare minimum, side event presentations should be made available to participants. The secretariat could create incentives for making presentations available, by making future selections to organise side events conditional on the organisers’ track record of making information accessible.”

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

1. Side event rooms are equipped with a computer, a projector, a screen, internet access, microphones at the podium and a hand held microphone for Q&A sessions.
2. Exhibit booths include a counter/table, a chair, a power outlet and wireless internet access. Further details will be available prior to a conference.

CATERING

IMPORTANT

• The secretariat reminds applicants that it reserves the right to reschedule or cancel side events at any time in the interest of the negotiating process.
• The secretariat also reserves the right to reallocate or cancel exhibits that exceed the authorized space or that are not set up on the first day of the booking period without any notice to the secretariat.
• Access to Side Event rooms is limited to duly registered conference participants.

For further information please refer to the attached FAQ.

INFORMATION

•  Frequently asked questions

You need Acrobat Reader to view PDF files.