Georgia is on a crossroad of the West and the East. Therefore one of the main objectives of the Tbilisi conference is to promote dialogue between bear specialists of the West and the East. We will try our best to bring more scientists and conservationists from previously underrepresented countries (e.g. Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, other former USSR countries, etc) to meet their counterparts from the West to share their experiences, discuss and possibly plan future cooperation in the fields of bear research and management.