MESOPOTAMIAN MARSHES
& MODERN DEVELOPMENT

Practical Approaches for Sustaining Restored Ecological & Cultural Landscapes

Conference
October 28th through 31st 2004

Harvard Design School, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA

“All truly sustainable, and therefore successful, environmental
restoration projects are as much about restoring degraded human –
nature relationships as they are about simply repairing
degraded physical landscapes”
- Healing Natures, Repairing Relationships: New Perspectives on
Restoring Ecological Spaces and Consciousness, 2004

This conference is not solely about Iraq. Instead, the conference will highlight successfully implemented projects from around the world that could be adapted to Iraq as well as elsewhere. Topics and case studies to be presented will deal with ecological restoration, hydrological modeling, wildlife management, ecotourism, and wastewater and agricultural engineering. Individuals interested in wetlands, sustainable development, land-use planning and design, watershed management, environmental engineering, human rights issues, and Middle Eastern politics will all benefit from attending.

The Problem and the Challenge

The Mesopotamian Marshes, located between the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq, were historically one of the world's most important wetland environments. The area of once over 20,000 square kilometers—thought by some to be the original Garden of Eden—provided habitat for millions of migrating birds and has been inhabited since the time of the Sumerians by thousands of people living on artificial islands of mud and reeds and depending on sustainable fishing and farming. Since the early 1990s, however, this important ecological and unique cultural jewel has been devastated by a series of thoughtless dam constructions and deliberate water diversions that has led to what many have come to regard as one of the most severe “ecocides” in human history. At the same time as the wetlands were being destroyed, the 5,000-year old way of life of the marsh dwellers was all but erased. During the last year, thousands of items of news coverage around the world have introduced and kept the topic of restoring the Mesopotamian Marshes alive in the public eye. Understood by all is the need to design and sustain an environmental restoration endeavor that balances the desire for maintaining traditional lifestyles within the longer context of modern development.

An interdisciplinary approach is required to develop a sustainable and thriving cultural and ecological landscape. The purpose of this symposium is to assemble a group comprised of Iraqi marsh dwellers and scientists, knowledgeable international experts with past and present working experience in the region, and leading practitioners in the fields of wetland design and management, innovative and environmentally sensitive engineering technology, and sustainable development. It is our belief that sustaining the to-be-restored Mesopotamian marshlands will benefit from a contextual comparison of what has already been accomplished at other locations in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere around the world. Bringing together this information will help to inform planning and design decisions and aid in maintaining the direction and efforts of the ongoing restoration.

The GOALS of this symposium are to:

PRESENT practical approaches for sustaining the process of the restoration efforts, both during and after the reparation work has been accomplished.

INTRODUCE designed and built projects from around the world that have achieved a high degree of success and which, either in their entirety or with elements thereof, can be adapted to the situation in the southern Iraqi marshlands.

EXAMINE actions that might be designed and planned to offer possible solutions to the sustainable development of the region.

Why this symposium is different

Previous conferences have examined the feasibility of restoration efforts and the expected products that might ensue. The present symposium will instead largely focus on practical approaches for sustaining the process of those restoration efforts. In short, we are not so much interested in discussing exactly how the restoration work will be done as we are in exploring what actions might be designed and planned to augment and sustain that important work.

As well, other conferences have primarily focused on either the natural or the cultural aspects of restoration. Here, with an understanding that by its very concept and application, restoration blurs the lines between what is “natural” and what is “cultural,” we hope to offer possible solutions to the sustainable—both ecologic and economic—development of the restored Mesopotamian marshlands.

Invitation

Harvard University’s Center for Environment specializes in addressing difficult problems such as those presented by sustaining the marshland restoration efforts in Iraq (which have been called “one of the most challenging yet significant environmental problems facing the world today”). Likewise the Center for Technology and Environment (CTE) at the Harvard Design School has developed a proven track record for focusing on complex subjects that bridge the worlds between science and technology, art and design, and history and culture. Previous CTE conferences have established worldwide dialogues and set implementation agendas on such subjects as reclaiming post-industrial landscapes, facilitating water-sensitive planning and design, restoring brownfields and degraded waterways, and developing approaches for ecological engineering and integrated water management.

The speakers who will be presenting at this Mesopotamian Marsh conference are among the world leaders in their various disciplines. We are confident that the accumulated experience and wisdom of these individuals in their own right, and especially that which we expect will be brought out through their interaction together, will ensure that this symposium will be an important, trend-setting event. We welcome your attendance and participation.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Landscape Architects
Land-use Planners
Wetland Scientists
Restoration Ecologists and Theorists
Desert Researchers
Ethnologists and Anthropologists
Natural Resource Managers
Wildlife Conservation Biologists
Sustainable Development Planners
Ecotourism Planners
Hydrologists
Environmental Engineers
Watershed Managers
Agricultural Engineers
Environmental Writers and Educators
Middle Eastern Scholars
Concerned Citizens

For further details please call the conference phone line at 617-495-0647