Preface : Multi-scale water and land-use modelling for better decision making in agro-eco systems

R.H. Mohtar (1, 2) , E. Braudeau (1) , Hatem Belhouchette (3, 4)

1 QEERI - Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute
2 Purdue University [West Lafayette]
3 CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier
4 UMR SYSTEM - Fonctionnement et conduite des systèmes de culture tropicaux et méditerranéens

This special issue documents the peer reviewed proceedings and key themes of the French-American Symposium on ‘Developing Partnerships for Sustainable Water Management and Agriculture in the context of Climate and Global Change’ that took place at Purdue University campus, on May 11–12, 2010. The symposium was co- organized by Purdue University Global Engineering Program and the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy, French Consulate in Chicago. The symposium goal of enhancing the development of strong USA-French partnerships in research, education and industry to ad- dress issues of climate change, sustainable water management and agriculture was realized through the presentation of needs and skills to policy makers, research laboratories and firms. In follow- up interactions since the symposium, new opportunities for part- nerships and collaborative initiatives in research, innovation and education between France and United States have been developed. A follow up meeting held in Montpellier in the CIHEAM-IAMM, France, July 6–8 2011, focused on implementation of the ideas gen- erated in the May 2010 symposium and reported on the initiated actions, with the goal of identifying joint programs for moving for- ward, including finalizing the research proposals, education and technology transfer ideas documented in the white papers of the 2010 meeting. Scientists from various disciplines recognized the need for im- proved integration of interdisciplinary research to accommodate recent developments within the field of integrated assessment of agricultural systems and land use has resulted in, among others, this special issue. It consists of 12 papers, among 18 submitted and revised, most of them applying integrated approaches, but dif- fering in specific features of design, analysis and processes. Con- cretely, the special issue addresses state of the art progress and challenges of the following issues:

Mots clés: INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT; WATER; LAND USE; DECISION SUPPORT; INTERDISCIPLINARITY; MODELS

Mots clés: EAU; GESTION INTEGREE; AIDE A LA DECISION; INTERDISCIPLINARITE; MODELE; UTILISATION DES TERRES

Domaines: Agriculture, économie et politique; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

R.H. Mohtar, E. Braudeau, Hatem Belhouchette. Preface : Multi-scale water and land-use modelling for better decision making in agro-eco systems. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2012, 86, pp.1-3. ⟨10.1016/j.compag.2012.05.007⟩. ⟨hal-02178737⟩