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Dubai: The seventh international summit on Coastal and Port Engineering in Developing Countries (Copedec 2008) opened on Sunday at Hotel Intercontinental in Dubai Festival City.
The conference, with 1,000 experts from 50 countries attending, will continue until February 28.
The objective of Copedec 2008 is to provide an international forum where coastal and port engineers from developing countries can exchange know-how and experience amongst themselves and, crucially, with their colleagues from industrialised countries.
The event is also considering ways of enabling dev-eloping countries to achieve a sustainable pool of professionals in these fields.
Papers being presented at the conference concentrate on practical applications and managerial and environmental aspects of coastal and port engineering in developing countries, including documentation of case studies.
The event is highly significant for Dubai given its pioneering position in every field and its constant strives for excellence. It is regarded as the first of its kind in the Middle East. It discusses one of the most significant topics the globe faces as half of the world's population lives within 60 kilometers of the coastal regions.
Dubai Municipality, as a goodwill gesture, has offered fellowships to 100 individuals from developing countries to participate in the conference at a cost of $200,000. Official sponsors of the event include Sama Dubai, Roads & Transport Authority, and Dubai Maritime City.
Papers
The conference is discussing as many as 226 papers from 43 countries, including 14 from the UAE.
Papers from the UAE also cover marine environment issues of the Dubai Creek, coastal modelling of the Dubai coastline, generic impacts of large-scale structures on the shoreline, marine forecasting and oil spill modelling in Dubai, 'live' management of the dynamic Dubai coastal zone, port expansion and sustainable dredging, and establishment of a statutory framework and institutional capacity for coastal zone.
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