The emergence of concepts for a sustainable development began long before the Brundtland-Report from 1987 explicitly called for it. Early examples for such policies can be found not only in the field of forest history but also in the history of water management and landscape protection. The conference takes the case of international rivers to reconstruct these policies.

Special attention will be given to three aspects:
1. The relation of rivers and their surrounding landscapes
2. Transnational perspectives which integrate transboundary empirical analysis with methodological reflection
3. Findings on early concepts for sustainability in the history of rivers and landscapes.

The conference is the final event of an international research project on the emergence of policies for sustainable development along the Upper Rhine region in the course of the 20th century. Consequently this region will be given special attention.

Conference languages will be English, French and German. Conference organisers will cover travel costs and accommodation for paper givers.

Scholars are asked to send an abstract of their paper (max. 400 words) and a short CV until May 31th 2009 to: André Guillerme (andre.guillerme@cnam.fr) or Christoph Bernhardt (bernhardt@irs-net.de)