Established in 2007, the Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management (LDEM) is an academic unit within the American University of Beirut that houses two programs, the Bachelor Degree of Landscape Architecture (BLA) and the Interfaculty Master of Science in Environmental Sciences (MSES), with a major in Ecosystem Management (ECOM). The BLA program is the only program of its kind in the MENA region and the first such program to be approved for accreditation by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) outside the USA. LDEM graduates are ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible designers and scientists in their approach towards nature, culture, and ecology. As successful professionals, LDEM graduates hold positions in landscape architecture, multi-disciplinary design and planning firms, local and international private consulting firms, international organizations and UN agencies, non-profit organizations, and government ministries.