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Introduction
A little more than two decades ago, scientists in the soil science and related disciplines have often focused their work interest on proper agricultural land, overlooking soils of urban, industrial, traffic, and mining areas (SUITMA). Such soils were considered trivial and somewhat foreign to their expertise. The fact that these soils are characterized by extreme spatial heterogeneity exacerbated the situation. A fresh input was created by enhanced environmental awareness, initiating new projections and convictions. Some well-informed pedologists argued that the evolution of these soils is heavily affected by anthropogenic factors. In the process, irregular transformation cycles comprising addition and mixing of exogenous materials may pose potential hazard to human health. Furthermore, want of additional soil resources into the agricultural production system generated interest in these unconventional soils. In the circumstances, appropriate rehabilitation measures have to be prescribed, and appropriate management measurements should be followed to safeguard both the environment and the food chain. These issues and others stimulated a group of enlightened soil scientists to establish the Working Group on SUITMA under the International Union of Soil Sciences. An objective was to define appropriate procedures to survey, analyze, manage, and utilize these unconventional soils. Thus, a new research frontier was gifted to the soil science community. No time was wasted, and therefore, two successive international conferences were organized as SUITMA 2000 in Essen Germany and SUITMA 2003 in Nancy France. At the closing session of Nancy conference, the whereabouts question of SUITMA 2005 was raised. There was a general consensus that Europe has had enough hosting the first and second conference of the series. With this understanding, the delegations of both Egypt and China, submitted their willingness and readiness to carry the banner and serve the cause. After a brief closed deliberation, it was proposed and agreed that SUITMA 2005 shall be held in Cairo Egypt Africa, followed by SUITMA 2007 in Nanjing China Asia.
Setting the Stage
Getting backhome to Cairo, the first step in meeting the challenging assignment was the formulation of a diversified but efficient Organizing Committee to plan ahead and supervise logistics. Subsequently, a Steering Committee was established comprising Prof. Wolfgang Burghardt, president of the first conference; Prof. Jean-Louis Morel, president of the second conference; and Prof. Salah Tahoun, president of the incoming third conference. The objective was to pass over gained experience and ensure continuity. Thereafter, an International Scientific Committee was established comprising eminent scientists from many countries across the world. The objective was to benefit from well-documented experience and to enhance conference visibility in the international community. Concomitantly, hundreds of email and airmail messages along with the conference brochure, written in English and Arabic, were sent to potential participants everywhere. On the internal side, the conference was placed under the patronage of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, and the President of El-Zagazig University. All along, SUITMA 2005 was intended to create the enabling environment to generate more knowledge and facilitate information exchange. In this context, efforts were spent to seek the widest participation to enrich collective learning of new aspects of soil science. Furthermore, it was intended to prove that soil scientists can extend mutual understanding between cultures and strengthen human tolerance.
The themes of the conference were adopted as follows:
· Properties of Unconventional Soils;
· Methodology and Classification;
· Industrials, Traffic, and Mining Pollution;
· Cycling of City Fluids and Solid Refuse;
· Desertification and Urban Expansion;
· Consumed Mining and Military Areas;
· Historical Sites; and
· Conventional Soils.
Sponsorship and support was generously provided to the conference by numerous international and national organizations. These included the International Union of Soil Sciences, Food and Agriculture Organization, University of El-Zagazig, Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, the Egyptian Soil Science Society, the Egyptian Geological Survey, the Egyptian Society of Crystallography, and the Egyptian Salts and Minerals Company.
Conference Processions
When November 2005 finally arrived, everything was perfectly in order, including the arrival dates of international guests. Teams of the Organizing Committee members were assigned to wait guests by the door of Cairo Airport with a word of welcome. Thereafter, the guests were taken in private cars to previously reserved hotels of their choice from an offered variety.
Field trips
On the early morning of November 17, the first pre-conference excursion began as previously designed. About 40 participants in a bus headed eastward of Cairo to visit the bentonite quarry of El-Fayoum Province. Next in the trip was a visit to the mineral extraction plant from the brackish water of Lake Karoun, about 100 km west of Cairo. The second excursion on November 18 visited stabilized sand dunes northeast of Cairo, followed by visiting an afforestation project utilizing treated sewage effluents, and a newly established city built on the Eastern Desert fringes with the Nile Delta. A small number of participants subscribed in a post-conference excursion over the period of 22 – 25 November, 2005. The first leg of the tour drove from Cairo to Alexandria, then taking the coastal road along the Mediterranean Sea to Mersa Matrouh, about 500 km away. The second leg was a drive southward across the gradually elevating Sahara plateau to reach the depression of Siwa Oasis, some 350 km from the coast, and 22 m below sea level. A representative soil profile was dug and features were discussed. On the way back to base, a stop was made in the El-Alamain area, where remnants of World War II are famous tourist attractions. There is a cemetery embodying the remains of thousands of martyrs who fell fighting each other. A soil profile was dug in the neighborhood, and the red Mediterranean soil was exemplified. The group then headed east towards Alexandria. A location was chosen in the eastern extremities of the city to dig a soil profile. Features of the interference between the marine and the Nile fluvial environments were prominent. With this soil profile done, the technical aspect of the excursion was finished, setting aside for cultural touches. The group enjoyed a quick tour through Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The final tip of the day was a stride in the narrow alleys of authentic Alexandria ending by a meal in a historic restaurant famous for serving traditional Egyptian dishes.
Scientific deliberations
In the morning of November 19, a total of 194 registered participants including 76 international guests gathered in the newly decorated auditorium of the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs. The guests belong to 21 countries aside from the FAO representative. The academic range of the guests was rather long, extending from senior eminent scientists to junior graduate students. After a brief opening session, there was a plenary session involving triple presentations delivered in a time series by Prof. Winfred E. H. Blum, Prof. Wolfgang Burghardt, and Prof. Wu Kening. These presentations collectively reviewed and outlined normal and challenging subjects to be addressed in SUITMAs conferences. The conference record indicates that about 140 volunteered scientific contributions were submitted. Out of these, 117 contributions were accepted for inclusion in the Book of Abstracts. Over the 3 days of deliberations, there were 10 oral presentation sessions dealing with 47 contributions. In parallel over the first 2 days, there were three poster sessions dealing with 70 contributions. A reviewer panel headed by Prof. Jean-Louis Morel evaluated the quality of the posters according to standardized terms of reference. During the final session of the conference, the authors of the top three posters were nominally rewarded by few hundreds of Egyptian pounds, not intended to monetize their effort but a symbol of encouragement and appreciation.
Salah A. Tahoun
University of El-Zagazig, El-Zagazig, Egypt
excursion to El-Fayoum (Fot. W. Burghardt)
Gala dinner (Fot. W. Burghardt)
Description of the Cairo SUITMA by Wolfgang Burghardt is accessible here:
Burghardt, W. (2006): 3rd SUITMA Conference, Cairo, Egypt. In St. Nortcliff, A.E. Hartemink (Editors): IUSS Bulletin 108, 2006: 55-56. ISSN: 0374-0447.
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