A. Soil and Vegetation

-          Climate change and soil fertility

-          Monitoring and indicators of soil states

-          Political ecology and indirect drivers of soil erosion

-          Agricultural practices and soil degradation

-          Water management and soil health

-          Soil biodiversity in drylands

-          Case studies in soil restoration

-          Vegetation and sustainable grazing in drylands

-          Drought and salt-resistant crops in dryland agriculture

-          Management of vegetative systems in drylands

-          Dryland afforestation

-          Agroforestry in dryland systems

-          Case studies involving restoration of degraded vegetative systems

-          Monitoring of vegetation states

-          Monitoring soil and vegetation degradation by remote sensing

-          Global change and vegetative-system diversity and productivity

-          Political ecology and indirect drivers of vegetation degradation

-          Biodiversity and conservation in the drylands

B. Partnerships and Models for Sustainable Dryland Development

-          Using traditional land management practices to address desertification

-          Strategies for adaptation to climatic change in the drylands

-          Urbanization’s role in a sustainable dryland development strategy

-          Strengthening community-driven development—the role of appropriate science and technology

-          Lessons learned about international aid’s role in promoting national and local dryland development policies

-          Escaping “poverty traps”—programs which have helped individuals and households extract themselves through economic development in the drylands

-          Livelihood diversification—models and examples for expanding the economic robustness of dryland communities

-          Contingency planning for water and food security in drylands

-          Culturing desertification: integrating environmental conservation and gender in non-western countries

C. Planning and Architecture as Tools for Sustainable Development

-          Urbanization’s role in sustainable dryland development strategies

-          Urban microclimate in arid environments: conditions and design strategies

-          Sustainable architectural design and low-energy communities in desert locations

-          Building materials in arid regions: environmental and economic life-cycle analysis

-          Indoor environmental quality in dust-rich environments—public health and physical planning

-          Legislation, standards and policies for implementing sustainable planning and design in arid environments

-          Public open spaces in dryland cities—existing standards and future needs, density issues, appropriate planning, water usage

Submission Instructions

 Outlines of papers (1 page long) should be submitted to: papers@bgu.ac.il
The review process will be ongoing. Final date for submissions is September 1, 2008.
Authors who have submitted paper proposals by September 1 will be notified of decisions regarding the acceptance of their papers by October 1, 2008.