Introduction

Bringing together researchers, practitioners and policy makers from five continents, this interdisciplinary conference is a forum aiming to review the individual, family-related and social issues of concerns, as well as governmental policies, currently affecting boys and men. With its theme being "Future perspectives for intervention, policy and research on men and masculinities: an international forum for the sharing and exchange of knowledge", its challenge is to not only reflect on new knowledge and understanding in the field but also to propose new courses of action.

Although specific research and intervention on boys and men has seen much growth over the last two decades, the attention they have garnered remains somewhat limited. Despite the scale of the challenges faced, still only a few has been done. It has become imperative to gain more knowledge and establish clinical, social and political interventions that serve to better understand and trace these origins, in the spirit of attaining harmony between the genders at the core of all societies. This conference will be held as one of the first events of this magnitude in the world, and will offer participants the opportunity to assess progress and identify future challenges.

The conference touches three main themes: theories and research geared to men, public policies affecting the health and well-being of boys and men, and finally practices applied to male populations. It will bring together many researchers and practitioners renown for their contributions to the field of men's realities. In fact, a broad forum is necessary in order to promote links between all those involved in the study of men and masculinities, whether they are researchers or practitioners, women or men, from developing or industrialized countries. In addition to Quebec being a major tourist destination, it is where the core of the Masculinities and Society research team is based. It is a team comprising of 24 researchers from seven Quebec universities and three Canadian universities, which has recently spearheaded an international collaboration for developing a network of researchers on men and masculinities from 10 countries. This symposium will in many ways serve to inaugurate this exciting new collaboration.

Looking forward to seeing you in Quebec City next March.

Gilles Tremblay, PhD, social worker
Masculinities and Society team
School of Social Work, Laval University