The Integration of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in the Context of Climate Change, the Energy Crisis and Food Insecurity

This Conference, as the outcome of joint efforts, is aimed at independent research organizations, universities, government agencies, policy-makers, public policy advocates, nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and corporate representatives from developing and developed countries. All of these stakeholders are interested in looking critically at the ways in which research is - and can be - used to create change worldwide. This Scientific Meeting will endeavor not only to share research results, but also to identify future research prospects, challenges, issues and concerns. Moreover, the organizers of this Meeting would like to generate innovative thinking in agricultural and rural development and to identify elements of a longer term research agenda to fill critical gaps in knowledge on these issues-through rigorous, defensible data collection, analysis interpretation and communication. They also would like to develop research projects and networks in these fields involving researchers from both developed and developing countries: believing that partnerships among researchers are critical components of any meaningful effort to develop synergistic research and change agendas. 

Deadline for abstracts/proposals: 15 January 2009.