Keynote speakers for ARABIANCOAST 2005 announced

Rashad Bukhash, Director of the General Projects Department at Dubai Municipality and chairman of the conference organising committee, said the list of speakers includes 12 international experts in the field of coasts management from Australia, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, Scotland, USA, Spain, South Africa, Italy and the UK. In addition, there will be experts from the Gulf region addressing the conference.

He said the keynote speakers include Dr. Robert Kay (Coastal Zone Management Pty Ltd. Australia), Karsten Mangor (DHI Water & Environment, Denmark), Prof. David Patterson (University St Andrews, Scotland), Prof. Ron Cox (UNSW, Australia), Prof. W Kamphuis (Queens University, Canada), Dr. Gregorio Gomez-Pina (Andalucia Coastal Management), Prof. Henk Jan Verhagen (Delft University, Netherlands), Dr. Chris Fleming (Halcrow, UK), Prof. Kristian Pilarczyk (Rijkswaterstaat, Netherlands), Prof. Kees D'Angremond (Delft University, Netherlands), and Dr. Stephen Huntington (HR Wallingford, UK).

The regional experts to address the conference include H.E. Nayef Al-Kalali (Undersecretary, Ministry of Works & Housing, Bahrain), Thabit Zahran Al Abdessalaam (Director, Marine Environment Research Center, ERWDA, Abu Dhabi) and Prof Walid Elshorbagy (UAE University, Al Ain).

The conference committee has already received some 150 technical papers from the region and around the globe.

The Coastal Management Section at Dubai Municipality has initiated the ARABIANCOAST Conference series in order to bring together regional and international scientists, environmentalists, engineers and coastal managers to discuss the latest achievements and developments of relevance to ensuring best practice in development and preservation of the regional coastal zone.

The event will also provide a platform for discussion on coastal impact problems and remedial solutions, including the presentation of case studies of relevance to the region.