International Symposium on Drylands Ecology and Human Security (ISDEHS): Regional Perspectives, Policy Responses and Sustainable Development in the Arab Region - Challenges

• ISDEHS 2006 is meant to be the first of a series of symposia intended to create an ongoing dialogue between researchers and policy makers from the Arab world with the global scientific community as well as to reposition the ongoing desertification debate within the context of human security.

• This year's discussions will address the theme "Regional Perspectives, Policy Responses and Sustainable Development in the Arab Region - Challenges and Opportunities" and will thus mainly focus on the progressive land degradation and its social consequences in the Middle East and North Africa. (MENA) However best practice examples and research from other semi-arid and arid regions are certainly welcome

• The symposium will be based on an interdisciplinary approach, since especially sustainable development of drylands is a political, ethical, social issue as much as it is a technical concern. Therefore it is now an accepted aspect of the discourse that a special emphasis should be put on the 'soft' sciences - concerning norms, cultural values, political processes, and 'institutions' in the wider sense of the word.

• Interdisciplinary environmental research in the field of drylands research is of utmost importance, since it will provide the information and understanding needed to enhance development pathways that provide alternatives to economically costly and socially detrimental environmental degradation.

• Finally in accordance with NDRDs principle objectives this event will also focus on finding the interface between research and the reality of development practice. Therefore we acknowledge that research should be applicable in view of those social groups within whose domain the impacts of the implementation measures are intended to take place.