MESOPOTAMIAN MARSHES
& MODERN DEVELOPMENT

Practical Approaches for Sustaining Restored Ecological & Cultural Landscapes

PROGRAM

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DAY 1: THURSDAY OCTOBER 28

8:00 AM Registration Opens at Harvard Design School, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts

PRE-CONFERENCE RESTORATION THEORY AND OVERVIEW SESSION
Thursday morning sessions will take place next door to the Harvard Design School in the Swedenborg Chapel, 50 Quincy Street

9:00 – 11:00 Restoration Writ Large

9:00 – 9:45 Economy and Diversity of Global Restoration Efforts
-Storm Cunningham, Revitalization Institute

9:45 – 10:20 Restoration in Philosophical and Politcal Context
-Elizabeth Spelman, Smith College

10:20 – 11:00 Conceptual and Moral Issues in Ecological Restoration
-Andrew Light, New York University

11:00 – 11:30 Historic Frameworks and Questions for Restoring the Mesopotamian Marshes and Conference Overview
-Robert France, Harvard University

SYMPOSIUM
Thursday afternoon sessions, and the remainder of the conference will take place at the Harvard Design School, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, in Piper Auditorium

12:45– 1:30 Welcome, General Introduction from Harvard University and Dr. Latif Rashid, Iraq Minister of Water Resources

1:30– 2:40 Keynote Introductory Lecture
Hydrological and Ecological Changes in the Iraq Wetlands
-Curt Richardson, Duke University

2:40– 3:10 Keynote Overview
Regional Context, Demise and Restoration Potential of the Mesopotamian Marshes: Challenges and Opportunities
-Edward Maltby, Royal Holloway, University of London
-Hassan Partow, United Nations Environmental Progam

3:10 - 3:25 Witness to the Human Impacts
-Rasheed Bander Al-Khayoun, Historian, Jornalist, and Marshlands Native

3:25– 3:40 Break

3:40– 4:35 Desert Wetland Restorations (A)
Restoration of the Las Vegas Wash and other Wetlands
-Vicki Scharnhorst, MWH

4:35 – 6:10 Keynote Presentation
Development of a Sustainable Restoration Plan for the Mesopotamian Marshlands
-Azzam Alwash, Iraq Foundation Eden Again Project
-Edwin Theriot, Corps of Engineers
-Andrea Cattarossi & Doug Hamilton, Exponent

6:30 – 7:45 Open Public Lecture
Current Status of USAID Efforts in Southern Iraq: Wetland Restoration, Anthropology and Agricultural Development
-Douglas Pool, US Agency for International Development

7:45 – 9:00 Reception and Photo Exhibition Opening



DAY 2: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29
SUSTAINABILITY OF WETLANDS AND NATURE RESERVES

8:45 – 9:30 Desert Wetland Restorations (B)

8:45– 9:10 Wetland Lost and Found in the Levant
-Robert France, Harvard Design School

9:10– 9:35 Demise and Rebirth of the Azraq Oasis in Jordan
-Khaled Irani, Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature

9:35 – 10:40 Keynote Synthesis Planning Lecture:
A Framework for Regional Studies (and some difficult questions):
An Example
-Carl Steinitz, Harvard Design School

10:40 – 11:05 Break

11:05 – 2:20 People

11:05 – 11:30
Ecological Restoration and Economic Sustainability in Mexican Wetlands
-Robert France, Harvard Design School

11:30 – 12:00
Alternative Futures for Coiba National Park, Panama
-Kimberly Karish & Robert Faris, Harvard University

12:00 – 12:30
Involving People in Science and Sustainability in the Pantanal Wetlands of Brazil
-Mark Chandler, Earth Watch

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch Break

1:30 – 2:20 Planning and Development of a Desert Wetland Park in the United States
-Becky Zimmerman, Design Workshop

2:20 – 4:50 Technology

2:20 – 3:05 Rebuilding Wetlands and Waterfowl Resources
-Don Young & Bruce Batt, Ducks Unlimited

3:05 – 3:50 Large Scale Water Restorative Manipulations
-Steve Apfelbaum, Applied Ecological Services

3:50 – 4:05 Break

4:05 – 4:50 Transportation Corridors as Armature for Cultural and Ecological Regeneration
-Ilze Jones, Jones & Jones

5:00 – 5:50 Open Public Lecture
The Nature Conservation Programme in Jordan - Helping Nature Help People
-Khaled Irani, Royal Jordanian Society for the Conservation of Nature



DAY 3 – SATURDAY OCTOBER 30
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

8:45 – 11:30 Wastewater Treatment, Reuse and Infrastructure

8:45 – 9:45 Wastewater and Salinity Treatment in Wetlands
-Jim Bays, CH2M-HILL

9:45 – 10:00 Break

10:00 – 10:45 Advanced Ecotechnology for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
-David Austin, Dharma Living Systems, Living Machines Division

10:45 – 11:30 Infrastructure Framework for Decentralized Wastewater Planning
-Scott Wallace, North American Wetland Engineering

11:30 - 11:45 Response: Nature-Informed Ecological Wastewater Design
- David del Porto, Ecological Engineering Group

11:45– 12:45 Lunch Break

12:45 – 2:35 Agriculture Challenges and Opportunities

12:45 – 1:40 Managing Scarce Water Resources in the Middle East
-Theib Oweis, International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas

1:45– 2:35 Moving Salt and Water in Managed Ecosystems:
Case Studies from History, and from the Western United States
-John Dickey & Mark Madison, CH2M-HILL

2:35 – 3:30 Modernization and Development
Post-war Infrastructure Reconstruction: Implementing a Sustainable Program for Water Resource Management
-Robert Hoffman, Michael Baker Corporation

3:30 – 4:00 Break

4:00 – 7:30 Closing Perspectives on the Past, Present and Future of the Iraqi Marshlands and Marsh Dwellers

4:00 – 4:30 ‘Return to the Marshes’: a Photographic Record of Life in the Marshes in the Mid-1970s
-Nik Wheeler, Photographer

4:30 – 5:00 Human Rights Issues in the Iraqi Marshlands
-Baroness Emma Nicholson, The AMAR International Charitable Foundation

5:00 – 5:25 Rapid Planning Exercise for Restoring Iraq's Marshes and Establishment of a University On-line Course
-Stuart Leiderman, University of New Hampshire

5:25– 5:50 Iraq-AWARE: Using the Iraqi Marshes for Establising Education Programs at the University of Basra
-Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, University of Miami
-Thomas Crisman, University of Florida

5:50 – 6:15 Trans-Boundary Context of Mashland Restoration
-Hassan Partow, United Nations Environmental Program
-Edward Maltby, Royal Holloway, University of London

6:15 - 6:45 The Evolving Canadian Response for Contributing to Restoring the Iraqi Wetlands
-Barry Warner, University of Waterloo

6:45– 7:10 Healing People and Land: Restoring Marshes and Rejuvenating Culture
-Michelle Stevens, Iraq-AWARE, University of Miami

7:10 – 7:45 Closing comments from hosts

7:45– 9:30 Closing reception

DAY 4 – SUNDAY OCTOBER 31
POSTCONFERENCE PANEL: APPLICATION AND INTEGRATION
Open to all Conference Attendees

9:00– 10:00 Post-Conference Responses and Commentaries