BI-IX Summary

Border Institute IX convened in September 2007 and hailed from a different southwest venue than in years past; Las Cruces, New Mexico. The theme of the conference was Security, Development, and the Environment. Participants were asked to take an analytical approach in identifying the intricacies between the "securitization" of the US-Mexico border, development patterns in the region and their joint effects on our shared border environment.  Also, separately, the group was asked to assess what their individual definition of security for the border region encompasses and whether current applications are providing this ideology for stakeholders on both sides of the border. This Border Institute gathered a dynamic posse, including representatives from authorities such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Canadian Commission for Environmental Cooperation, la Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas, the US-Mexican Chamber of Commerce, the USEPA, Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales etc. (for a full list of representatives, see the participants list).  The institute culminated with a series of Break-Out-Sessions (BOS), at which point delegates split into focus groups to assess the material presented during the Border Institute IX. BOS participants combined their own professional expertise and experience with this palate of information, to provide actionable suggestions to be given to policy makers and to be made available to the interested public.