The International Phosphorus Workshop constitutes an important forum for discussion of the main issues related to the loss of phosphorus from soil and its impact on the environment, especially the surface waters. The workshop is held every three years, the present one following those held in 1995 (Wexford, Ireland), 1998 (Antrim, Northern Ireland), 2001 Plymouth (UK), 2004 (Wageningen, The Netherlands) and 2007 (Silkeborg, Denmark). Most of attendees in this last workshop were in favour of holding the next one in Seville, the ad hoc organizing committee being presently formed by Antonio Delgado (University of Seville), José Torrent (University of Córdoba) and Fernando Gil (University of Santiago de Compostela).

Significant advances have been made in the last twenty five years on the understanding of the factors and processes involved in the P dynamics in the soil-water continuum. However, much remains to be done in order to accurately predict and model P losses and, especially, to set up cost-effective control strategies to meet the legislative requirements in different areas —in Europe, for instance, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000 requires member states of the European Union to ensure that good water quality is achieved by 2015. The wide differences among geographic areas in terms of climate, soil landscape and agricultural systems, among others, warrant different scientific and technical approaches to solve the problems caused by soil P losses. In this respect, IPW6 offers a window on the specific problems of agricultural systems in a region with a typical Mediterranean climate.

The workshop will cover the following general topics:

• Agricultural P flows at global and regional scales as affected by agroecological and climatic changes
• Phosphorus dynamics/cycling at the pedon scale
• Processes of phosphorus mobilization at the field and catchment scales
• Measurement, monitoring and modelling of soil P loss and transport
• Water quality and ecology in relation to P status
• Technical evaluation and cost/benefit analysis of mitigation options

Funded by Ministerio de Innovación y Ciencia de España (Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science), Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia, Spain), and Universidad de Sevilla