The papers in this special issue are derived from a selection of presentations given at the RACHAD workshop titled “Pattern of Holocene Climate Change in Central Asia: Data Synthesis” held at Lanzhou University, People's Republic of China, from 25th to 27th July 2006. RACHAD is INQUA Palaeoclimate Commission (PALCOMM) Project (#0502), concerned with ‘rapid climate change in Central Asia's drylands’, and the 2006 workshop was its fourth gathering. The RACHAD project was established in 2000 and has been led by Prof Fahu Chen from Lanzhou University. RACHAD's initial objectives were to stimulate the reconstruction of Holocene climatic and environmental changes in arid Central Asia at high resolution, to intensify international research collaboration, and to develop and refine techniques for environmental reconstruction and dating.