First Brazilian Symposium on Dunes Systems and International Symposium on Coastal Dunes: A Report of Meeting

Abstract

The First Brazilian Symposium on Dunes Systems and International Symposium on Coastal Dunes (Management and Sustainable Development) were held on the Marina Park Hotel in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, from August 24, 2005, to August 28, 2005. 1 Luis Parente Maia and coworkers at the Institute of Marine Sciences at Federal University of Ceara (LABOMAR/UFC) organized the meeting. Cosponsors provided assistance in many ways that helped to make the meeting a success. Travel grants were made available to plenary speakers from overseas. With nearly 100 delegates in attendance, this was the largest single grouping on coastal dune research in Brazil. Because the main theme of the meeting focused on coastal sand dunes management and sustainable development, a range of research was presented by researchers with professional backgrounds in physics, geography, geology, biology, and various social and human sciences. The format of the meeting included oral presentations, poster sessions, and a 3-day field excursion along the coast in Ceara (Jericoacoara Dune Field). All of the professional talks were presented in single plenary sessions with no concurrent sessions. This arrangement was effective because it provided participants with different professional training to appreciate new or different points of view. Half of the talks were delivered in English and half in Portuguese, both with simultaneous translation. The talks were of high quality and were accompanied by ample time for questions and discussion.