We are sincerely happy to have hosted this meeting in Marrakech. We are also honoured that a large attendance participated in the conference and visited Morocco. Many things have changed in the last years in Sedimentology and Geology and many things have occurred in the social and political aspects of the world. We have to keep the pace in our discipline and in our international collaborations. Science is a way to unite people and in the case of geology even more, because we are used to travel in remote places and to experience different cultures.

Geologists tend to be quite open scientists and now we face the duty to open our minds further to provide new scientific frontiers and to increase the international friendship.

Due to the present international situation, this conference has obliged us to cope with a number of problems that we never encountered in other similar events. But this is not entirely negative. We had to re-think the organisation of this event and the result is a sober and simple meeting. We want to transmit the simple style of life of our country, a country facing the Mediterranean but rooted in the heart of Africa. In the north of our country it may rain like in southern Europe, but to the south we are at the border of the largest and oldest desert of the world: Sahara.

Thank you very much to be here with us.

Gian Gabriele Ori and Kamal Taj-Eddine