Ahmed Hassan

Siwa Oasis, in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is a fragile ecosystem with potential for sustainable geo-tourism. This study evaluates its geo-tourism and environmental prospects by analysing geomorphology, environmental conditions, and cultural landscapes. Remote sensing data from Landsat 8 were utilised to calculate NDVI, NDSI, and NDMI for 2015, 2020, and 2025, revealing significant environmental changes. Findings show an increase in vegetation and agricultural land, but also a decline in healthy vegetation due to groundwater overexploitation and soil salinity. The NDSI indicates heightened sand accumulation, posing risks to infrastructure and tourist sites. NDMI results point to reduced moisture levels, highlighting environmental vulnerability. These factors impact the sustainability of geo-tourism activities. Despite its geoheritage assets, the oasis faces challenges in water management, land degradation, and the regulation of tourism. The study suggests adopting a low-impact tourism model, supported by environmental monitoring and community engagement. Future research should leverage high-resolution UAV data and AI techniques to improve geo-tourism assessment in arid regions.

8 ^th International Symposium and Field Workshop Living with Landscapes “Environment and sustainable development” Siwa Oasis, Egypt September 29- October 3, 2025; ISLL- 8 SIWA, 2025 Aims and objectives In general, people worldwide are experiencing the effects of climate change, which have significantly affected their lives and activities. This profound impact has consistently encompassed our planet’s ecosystems, a phenomenon that has persisted beyond the modern era. On the contrary, it has extended throughout geological history. Our scientific meeting, therefore, focuses on exchanging experiences about the effects of this phenomenon on human life across all fields, past and present. It focuses on exploring multiple ways to adapt to the negative consequences of climate change through effective cooperation and the exchange of human experiences across interdisciplinary scientific fields.

Dryland coastal–mountain systems stand at the frontline of climate change, where steep topographic gradients amplify the balance between resilience and collapse. Mount Elba—Egypt’s hyper-arid coastal–mountain reserve—embodies this fragile equilibrium, preserving a seventy-year climatic record across a landscape poised between sea and desert. Here, we present the first multi-decadal, spatio-temporal assessment (1950–2021) integrating the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI-6) with satellite-derived vegetation responses (NDVI) along a ten-grid coastal–highland transect. Results reveal a pervasive drying trajectory of −0.42 SPEI units per decade, with vegetation–climate coherence (r ≈ 0.3, p < 0.05) intensifying inland, where orographic uplift magnifies hydroclimatic stress. The southern highlands emerge as an “internal drought belt,” while maritime humidity grants the coast partial refuge. These trends are not mere numerical abstractions; they trace the slow desiccation of ecosystems that once anchored biodiversity and pastoral livelihoods. A post-1990 regime shift marks the breakdown of wet-season recovery and the rise in persistent droughts, modulated by ENSO teleconnections—the first quantitative attribution of Pacific climate signals to Egypt’s coastal mountains. By coupling climatic diagnostics with ecological response, this study reframes drought as a living ecological process rather than a statistical anomaly, positioning Mount Elba as a sentinel landscape for resilience and adaptation in northeast Africa’s rapidly warming drylands.

Flash floods from rainstorms pose a severe natural hazard, especially dangerous in arid regions. This has occurred multiple times in Kuwait: in 1967, 1997, 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2020. For example, about 300 mm of rain beset the State of Kuwait on the 14th and 15th of November 2018. Subsequently, Sabah Al-Ahmad City was declared an environmental disaster zone, grappling with extensive water accumulation in its roads, urban zones, and surrounding valleys. This study focuses on (i) monitoring the hydro-geomorphological impacts of the floods on Sabah Al-Ahmad City and (ii) assessing the strategic plan to diminish flood risks, aiming to prevent a recurrence akin to the catastrophic events during rainstorms. (iii) proposing a protection plan for the city. The research employs various methodologies, including drones (UAV), field surveys, hydrological modelling, digital elevation model analysis, and spatial analysis of multi-spectral satellite imagery. These methods are instrumental in comprehending how flash floods impact the sustainable development of urban areas in Kuwait. Our approach is designed to support decision-makers and urban planners, enabling them to proactively identify flood-prone zones before future urban development initiatives in Kuwait.

Flash flooding is one of the most devastating natural events that leads to enormous and recurring loss of life. Kuwait was subjected to severe rainstorms in the winter of 2018 and 2020 followed by an extreme violent flood that had not been known in Kuwait since 1976. It resulted in several geomorphological and environmental impacts in urban and desert areas. This produced some positive results, such as geomorphological activity in landforms, the flow of some valleys and the prosperity of wildlife in the Kuwaiti desert. Negative results included some problems in the metropolitan area and destruction of some road networks that intersect the main valleys, and which were not equipped with crossings for avoiding floods. There was also the emergence of some problems in the infrastructure. Study of flash floods requires the involvement of all scientific and executive bodies to avoid environmental risk. The study aims to: 1- Monitor geomorphological and environmental changes. 2- Assess the impact of floods in the urban areas and on infrastructure. 3- Modeling the impact. 4- Creating solutions and adaptions to the flash flood. The study uses several methods such as remote sensing (RS), geographic information systems (GIS), hydrologic modeling and fieldwork to evaluate the impact of flash flood hazards on the sustainable urban development of Kuwait state. This approach is rarely used in Kuwait. We propose a novel method that could help decision-makers and planners in determining inundated flood zones before planning future urban developments in Kuwait, and help them to manage flood water, by identifying the most appropriate places for storage to exploit water in agriculture and drinking.