In its continuous efforts to increase public awareness of the challenges facing the government, to encourage public debates about environmental policies, and to propose solutions to the grave crises facing the environment in Lebanon, the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS) with support from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Canadian International Development Agency , held a two-day conference entitled "The Environmental Crisis in Lebanon: Challenges and Alternatives". The conference was attended by over 80 environmentalists, government officials, environmental NGO representatives and journalists.

The conference was inaugurated by the Minister of Environment, Akram Shhayeb. During the conference papers on such topics as: water and air pollution, the effects of unplanned construction, vegetation problems, soil erosion and desertification were presented.

The conference was designed to promote a national dialogue between the ministry, the deputies concerned and decision-makers, as well as industrial and environmental NGOs, over the essential issues of conserving and enhancing Lebanon's environmental resources. The conference speakers and the participants reassessed the condition of the environment in Lebanon six years after the end of the war, and proposed solutions and recommendations for the future management of the environment. The conference concluded with two sessions which discussed the roles that governmental institutions, civil society, the Ministry of Environment and the Higher Council of the Environment could play in effectively managing the environment. Different alternatives for dealing with the environment were proposed, including the idea of creating a Lebanese Environmental Protection Agency for managing the environment.

Following the conference, recommendations made during the course of the conference were compiled and published in various Lebanese newspapers. All presentations (total of 32) are published in LCPS' Arabic Journal "Abaad", issues Number 7, and Number 8.