The 11th SKF conference took place during May 13-16, 2017 at the Mövenpick Dead Sea Hotel in Jordan. The conference was launched by His Excellency the Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and coincided with the launch of the SESAME center - an advanced regional research center founded by the UNESCO. The conference focused on Jordan and its neighbors and included several areas of research including Energy, Transports, Agriculture and Food Security, Water, Capacity Building, and Integration of Women to the workforce.

The Water and Livelihoods Initiative (WLI) participated in the Round table presentation and discussion on Desert Agriculture – Innovations from Nabateans until today moderated by Dr. Uriel Safriel. WLI’s experience in the Badia as well as other ICARDA accomplishments in the region were presented by Dr. Theib Oweis, Director of the Integrated Water and Land Management Program (IWLMP); and Eng.  Mohammed Mudabber representing Jordan’s National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE) – a key partner for WLI.