This Symposium will be the opportunity to examine the possible links between nearby, mature galaxies and the distant objects that our deepest extragalactic surveys now routinely uncover. Major open questions pertaining to the evolution of these objects into the galaxies we see today will be addressed and confronted to theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution. In recent years, the multi-wavelength mapping of galaxies has enabled a new vision of their structure and composition that may, or may not, be compatible with theoretical precepts.

We are living the golden era of multi-wavelength observations with COSMOS, GOODS, MUSYC, AEGIS and several other surveys probing deep areas of the sky. In the Local Universe, multi-wavelength observations have also reached the survey era with SDSS, SINGS, SINGG, NGVS among others. Sophisticated instrumentation are allowing the comparison of spatially resolved measurements of the dynamics and chemical composition of galaxies at high redshifts (e.g. SINFONI on 8m) with high-resolution kinematical and abundance maps of local galaxies (e.g. 3DNTT on 4m), possibly yielding new insights into the mass assembly and the integrated star formation history of galaxies.

There is emerging evidence that the properties of z >~ 2 galaxies are quite drastically different from those of the galaxies in the local universe. Disks appear to be more turbulent and gas-rich, early-types appear to be much smaller for a given mass than their local counterparts and morphologies do not fit in the Hubble sequence of present-day galaxies. Moreover, z ~ 1 seems to be the epoch of transition where galaxies start to resemble more the present-day population and where star formation starts to decrease.

One legitimate question to ask is: can we really apply the knowledge gained from low-z studies to the high-z galaxy populations, in view of the strong apparent differences in observed properties? Or do we still have to rely heavily on models/simulations, often based on simplified and likely inadequate recipes for the complex and poorly constrained physical processes involved to interpret high-z observations? With the next generation of facilities coming on line worldwide or in final design stage (e.g. Atacama Large Millimeter Array, Extremely Large Telescopes, James Webb Space Telescope, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Square Kilometer Array, etc.) that will allow us to probe galaxies at redshifts z=1 or beyond with similar precision as in the local Universe, the time is right in 2010 to assess the current status of the field.

This Symposium will bring together theorists and observers in an attempt to reach a common understanding of the puzzles that our research has recently unfolded, largely through the study of galaxy dynamics and their stellar populations at low and high redshifts. With Meerkat (Karoo Array Telescope) and Salt (South African Large Telescope) in operation in South Africa and Astrophysics being developed in Burkina Faso, it seems timely to hold such a meeting in Africa, especially following the IYA and the resolution of the 2009 IAU General Assembly asking to support the development of Astronomy in emerging countries.