Risk Analysis 2018

11th International Conference on Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation

6 - 8 June, 2018

Seville, Spain

Introduction

Risk Analysis 2018 is the 11th International Conference on Computer Simulation in Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation. Risk Analysis 2018 follows on from the other successful meetings in this series, which first started in Valencia, Spain (1998) and continued in Bologna, Italy (2000); Sintra, Portugal (2002); Rhodes, Greece (2004); Malta (2006); Cephalonia, Greece (2008); Algarve, Portugal (2010); the island of Brac in Croatia (2012), the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute of Technology (2014) and Crete, Greece (2016).

The conference covers a series of important topics of current research interests and many practical applications. It is concerned with all aspects of risk management and hazard mitigation, associated with both natural and anthropogenic hazards.

Current events help to emphasise the importance of the analysis and management of risk to planners and researchers around the world. Natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, fires and others have always affected human societies. The more recent emergence of the importance of man-made hazards is a consequence of the rapid technological advances made in the last few centuries. The interaction of natural and anthropogenic risks adds to the complexity of the problems.

The papers presented at the Risk Conferences cover a variety of topics related to risk analysis and hazard mitigation. They are published as volumes of Transactions of Engineering Sciences, which is widely disseminated around the world in both hardcover and digital formats. Furthermore, all the papers are also archived in the WIT eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are freely and permanently available to the international scientific community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at SUSI 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Risk analysis, assessment and management
• Early warning and vulnerability
• Temporal and spatial aspects of risk
• Disaster management
• Vulnerability assessment
• Health risk
• Case studies
• Natural disasters (climate change, earthquake, flood)
• Engineering risk (construction and transportation)
• Safety and security
• Evacuation, simulation and design
• Political and socio-economic risk
• Community and economic resilience
• Communication of risk
• Insurance
• Economic risk

                                                 Find out more on the conference webpage.

SUSI 2018

15th International Conference on Structures under Shock and Impact

4 - 6 June, 2018

Seville, Spain

Introduction

SUSI 2018 is the 15th International Conference in the successful series of Structures Under Shock and Impact. The first conference started in Cambridge, Massachusetts, (1989) and continued in Portsmouth, UK (1992); Madrid, Spain (1994); Udine, Italy (1996); Thessaloniki, Greece (1998); Cambridge, UK (2000); Montreal (2002); Crete (2004); the New Forest, home to the Wessex Institute (2006); the Algarve, Portugal (2008); Tallinn, Estonia (2010), Kos, Greece (2012); The New Forest, UK (2014); and Crete, Greece (2016).

The increasing need to protect civilian infrastructure and industrial facilities against unintentional loads arising from accidental impact and explosion events as well as a terrorist attack is reflected in the sustained interest in the SUSI meetings over three decades. While advances have been made over this period, nevertheless many challenges remain, such as to develop more effective and efficient blast and impact mitigation approaches than currently exist. The primary focus remains the survivability of physical facilities and the protection of people, as well as reducing economic losses and impact on the environment, with emphasis on innovative protective technologies to support the needs of an economically growing, modern society. The application of this technology ranges from the safe transportation of people in several modes and the transportation of dangerous or combustible materials to defences against natural hazard threats such as flood, wind, storm, tsunami and earthquake.

Large-scale testing is prohibitive and small-scale laboratory testing results in scaling uncertainties. Continuing research is therefore essential to improve knowledge of how these structures behave under a variety of load actions, some of which interact making it even more complex and difficult to define. Consequently, more use of advanced numerical simulations for load and structural response calculations is common practice in industry and research. Such calculations can directly be used in design and risk assessment calculations, but also be applied as an input to more simplified design tools and design codes. Whether numerical or analytical modelling techniques are employed, experimental validation is vital for there to be acceptance of the approach to be used. The SUSI meeting over the years has fulfilled many objectives, not least to provide a forum for the exchange of research ideas and results to promote a better understanding of these critical issues relating to the testing behaviour, modelling and analyses of protective structures against blast and impact loading.

It is the objective of these meetings to bring together scientists and engineers from a wide range of academic disciplines and industrial backgrounds who have an interest in the structural impact and blast response of structures and materials. In this way, the major developments in different areas can be brought to the attention of the entire community.

All papers presented at the SUSI conference since 1994 are archived in the eLibrary of the Wessex Institute (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are accessible to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at SUSI 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Impact and blast loading
• Energy absorbing issues
• Computational and experimental results
• Response of reinforced concrete under impact
• Response of building to blast
• Seismic behaviour
• Protection of existing structures
• Industrial accidents and explosions
• Hazard mitigation and assessment
• Security issues
• Dynamic analysis of composite structures
• Vehicle impact
• Ballistics analysis
• Dynamic material behaviour
• Structural design against multipole based activities
• Fluid structure interaction

                                             Find out more on the conference webpage.

Water Pollution 2018

14th International Conference on Monitoring, Modelling and Management of Water Pollution

22 - 24 May, 2018

A Coruña, Spain

Introduction

Water Pollution 2018 is the 14th International Conference in the series of Monitoring, Modelling and Management of Water Pollution. The conference, which has always been very successful, provides a forum for discussion amongst scientists, managers and academics from different areas of water contamination. The wealth of information exchanged in this international meeting continues to be of great benefit to all involved with water pollution problems. 

The environmental problems caused by the increase of pollutant loads discharged into natural water bodies requires the formation of a framework for regulation and control. This framework needs to be based on scientific results that relate pollutant discharge with changes in water quality. The results of these studies allow the industry to apply more efficient methods of controlling and treating waste loads, and water authorities to enforce appropriate regulations regarding this matter. Environmental problems are essentially interdisciplinary. Engineers and scientists working in this field must be familiar with a wide range of issues including the physical processes of mixing and dilution, chemical and biological processes, mathematical modelling, data acquisition and measurement, to name but a few. In view of the scarcity of available data, it is important that experiences are shared on an international basis. Thus, a continuous exchange of information between scientists from different countries is essential.

The Water Pollution Conference started in Southampton in 1991 and has been held in Milan, Italy (1993); Porto Carras, Greece (1995); Lake Bled, Slovenia (1997); Lemnos, Greece (1999); Rhodes, Greece (2001); Cadiz, Spain (2003); Bologna, Italy (2006); Alicante, Spain (2008); Bucharest, Romania (2010); The New Forest, UK, home of the Wessex Institute (2012); the Algarve (2014), and Venice in 2016. All published papers since 1993 have been widely distributed and archived in the eLibrary where they are permanently and freely available to the scientific community (www.witpress.com/elibrary).

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Water Pollution 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Water contamination
• Monitoring, modelling and forecasting
• Water management
• Wastewater management
• Groundwater and aquifers
• Flood damage
• Freshwater quality
• Coastal and offshore pollution
• Health risk studies
• Agricultural contamination
• Industrial pollution
• Water reusage
• Emerging technologies
• Socio-economic-political consequences
• Population and climate change
• Education and training

                                                Find out more on the conference webpage.

Complex Systems 2018

The New Forest Complex Systems Conference 2018

14 - 16 May, 2018

The New Forest, UK

Introduction

The Complex Systems Conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners of Complex Systems from a variety of disciplines interested in developing the new approaches for resolving complex issues that cannot be resolved using conventional mathematical or software models.

It also welcomes specialists in modelling complex issues using Multi-Agent Technology and similar distributed approaches, which have achieved credible application results, and those aspiring to design and build Digital Ecosystems, inspired by natural ecosystems.

The Conference is particularly interested in methods for resolving complex issues that exhibit the following attributes: connectivity, autonomy, emergence, non-equilibrium, non-linearity, self-organisation and co-evolution.

High level of dynamics of such systems, which is usually expressed through the frequent occurrence of unpredictable disruptive events, makes conventional optimizers, batch schedulers and resource planning systems unworkable.

Complex Systems occur in an infinite variety of problems, not only in the realm of physical sciences and engineering but encompassing fields as diverse as the economy, the environment, humanities, social and political sciences. Further examples are given in the enclosed list of topics which although incomplete gives an idea of the themes to be covered by the meeting.

By now the conference is well established and is distinguished by its friendly and informal atmosphere in which it is easy for participants to help each other to further advance their appreciation of the subject of managing complexity.

Among the participants, one will find renowned complexity thinkers, well-established practitioners and novices in the area of complexity happily discussing issues of common interest.

And, of course, the New Forest is beautiful and provides the right opportunity to bring your family and friends with you.

Papers presented at previous meetings have been published in paper and digital format. They are freely available in Open Access format in the WIT eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary).

Conference Topics

All issues arising from complexity are acceptable. Examples of particular interest are given below:

Complexity Science

• Emergence
• Emergent Intelligence
• Adaptation in response to disruptive events
• Resilience to extreme events
• Autocatalytic properties
• Self-organisation
• Evolution

Digital Ecosystems

• Urban digital ecosystems
• Healthcare digital ecosystems

Complex Adaptive Business

• Self-organisation versus control
• Real-time logistics
• Real-time supply chains
• Adaptive business processes
• Enterprise ontology
• Mining big data (extracting knowledge from data)
• Resilience to electronic attacks and fraud

Complex Adaptive Healthcare

• Adaptation in human biology
• Self-organisation of healthcare resources

Complex Networks

• The Internet of documents
• The Internet of people
• The Internet of things
• Social media

Complexity in Transportation Systems

• Self-organisation in air traffic management
• Adaptive aircraft lifecycle
• Adaptive space logistics
• Intelligent drones
• Real-time scheduling of multi-modal transport
• Swarming

                                                 Find out more on the conference webpage.

Urban Growth 2018

1st International Conference on Urban Growth and the Circular Economy

8 - 10 May, 2018

Alicante, Spain

Introduction

The continuing and rapid growth of the cities and their regions of influence has led to the need to find new solutions which allow for promoting their sustainable development.

The quest for the Sustainable City has until recently focused on the efficient use of resources with the application of technical advances giving rise to the definition of SMART Cities. The economic model emphasised, however, is still “linear” in the sense that the design and consumption follow the pattern of extraction of natural resources, manufacturing, product usage and waste disposal.

The continuous growth of urban population has recently given rise to the emergence of a new model which responds better to the challenges of natural resource depletion as well as waste management. This model has been called the “circular economy”.

The circular economy is a recent concept based on the reuse of what up to now has been considered wastes, reintroducing them into the productive cycle. The objective of the circular economy is to reduce consumption and achieve savings in terms of raw materials, water and energy, thus contributing to the preservation of resources in order to reach sustainable development.

The circular economy has its roots in environmental economics. Its objective is minimising resources in the production of goods and services. The idea is to implement the life cycle of products, services, waste, materials and energy. The concept needs to be embedded not only in the original design but also in all process phases and during production, which ought to be as efficient as possible.

One of the most important of these resources is water which is becoming a scarce commodity in an ever-expanding world whose population demands a better standard of living. Water is required for agricultural purposes as well as by industry, in addition to its use by the general population. The recycling of water is an essential component of the circular economy.

Closely associated with the concept of the sustainable city and the circular economy is the need to develop networks, not only within the City itself but also across other city regions to ensure governance based on cooperation.

There is no possibility for the success of a long-term economic policy without addressing the problems of natural resources and environmental pollution, which will affect the reuse of materials and products.

The current market economy based on a linear model from resource extraction, manufacturing, consumption and waste disposal, has not proved a long-term suitable solution, in spite of the substantial efforts made in reducing its environmental impacts. This is largely due to the continuous population growth, in a society that demands high standards of living, thus requiring an ever-increasing share of natural resources.

The basis of the circular economy can be summarised as follows:

• Eco-consumption: It starts with the evaluation of the possible environmental impacts of the process.
• Industrial Ecology: The industrial phase is based on the principle of optimisation of components, the flow of materials, energy and services.
• Economic Functionality: The process gives more importance to use than possession; ie to the sale of services rather than goods.
• Reuse: Aim to use waste to create new products. This phase also involves the repairs, recycling and value-added procedures to prolong the life of any given products or services.

The achievements of the goals proposed by the circular economy require the cooperation of the community, as well as technological changes and advances.

The need to base suitable development on the environmental, economic and social points of view, demands an integrated approach to solve the city problems including planning and development.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Urban Growth 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Infrastructure and eco-architecture
• Green urban areas
• Landscape and planning
• City heritage and its regeneration
• Quality of life
• Urban transport
• Communications
• Energy systems
• Water reuse
• Air contamination
• Water pollution
• Waste management
• Noise pollution
• Waste water systems
• Risk analysis
• Recreation in the city
• Coastal cities
• Socio-economic issues
• Law and regulation
• Production of goods and services
• Consumption issues
• Recycling
• Urban agriculture
• Urban mining
• New design practices
• Smart technologies
• Mobility in the city
• Safety aspects
• Smart habitats
• Systems resilience
• Governance
• Community participation

                                               Find out more on the conference webpage.

Sustainable Tourism 2018

8th International Conference on Sustainable Tourism

2 - 4 May, 2018

Vienna, Austria

Introduction

Sustainable Tourism 2018 is the eighth meeting organised in this successful series. The first was held in Segovia (2004), followed by Bologna (2006), Malta (2008), the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute (2010), A Coruña (2012), Opatija, Croatia in 2014 and Valencia, Spain in 2016

Today tourism is an important component of development, not only in economic terms but also for knowledge and human welfare. Tourism today is an activity accessible to a growing number of people.

The phenomenon has many more advantages than disadvantages. New forms of economic development and increasing wealth of human societies depend on tourism. Our knowledge of the world now includes a strong component due to tourism. Human welfare has physiological and psychological elements, which tourism promotes, both because of the enjoyment of knowing new territories and increasing contacts with near or far away societies and cultures.

The tourism industry has nevertheless given rise to some serious problems, including social costs and ecological impacts. Many ancient local cultures have practically lost their identity. Their societies have oriented their economy only to this industry. Both the natural and cultural – rural or urban – landscapes have also paid a high price for certain forms of tourism. These problems will persist if economic benefit is the only target, leading to economic gains that eventually become ruinous. It is also a grave error to disregard the fact that visitors nowadays are increasingly demanding in cultural and environmental terms.

Never before have transport and communication links been so important as today. Natural ecosystems are now a rarity on the planet and ecologists talk today about ‘socio-ecosystems’. Given this, tourism and environmental education are facing a major challenge.

The ‘Global Change’ is a set of natural environmental changes that are strongly affected by technological and social developments. Natural changes are inherent in the Earth’s ecosystem (the ‘ecosphere’). Also, technological and social changes are inherent to mankind (the ‘noosphere’) and are now becoming widespread. Cities are growing rapidly and industry requires increasingly larger areas. Many traditional rural areas are being abandoned. Tourism should also play an important role in this context. Thus, interestingly, many historic agricultural districts have maintained, or even recovered, their local population numbers through intelligent strategies of tourism focused on nature and rural culture. Natural landscapes and biodiversity are becoming increasingly appreciated. The tourism industry must be able to respond to these aspirations.

Sustainable Tourism 2018 aims to find ways to protect the natural and cultural landscape through the development of new solutions which minimise the adverse effects of tourism. This can be achieved through new strategies involving the active collaboration of society as a whole.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Sustainable Tourism 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Tourism strategies
• Environmental issues
• Climate change
• Safety and security
• Tourism as a tool of development
• Heritage tourism
• Marine and coastal areas tourism
• Sport tourism
• Tourism impact
• Tourism and protected area
• Ecotourism
• Rural tourism
• Tourism and technology
• Industrial tourism
• Transport and tourism
• Education and tourism
• Destination management
• eTourism
• Simulation models
• Social and physical infrastructure
• Gastronomic tourism
• Contents tourism
• Sustainability
• Role of the landscape on tourism
• Dark tourism
• Project image
• Sustainability assessments
• Gender role
• Cultural tourism
• Medical and health tourism
• Tourism and nature
• Local community

Find out more on the conference webpage.

Islamic Heritage 2018

2nd International Conference on Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art

17 - 19 April, 2018

Malta

Introduction

The Conference on Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art started in Valencia, Spain (2016) and, following its success, it is now being reconvened. The second meeting is to take place in Malta from 17th to 19th April 2018.

The Conference aims to highlight the importance of Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art to the world and its influence across different regions.

The Meeting will deal with the design of many types of buildings in Islamic countries, including not only the better known public buildings like mosques, mausolea, citadels and forts, but also houses and gardens, engineering works such as bridges and dams, irrigation systems and many others which have also had a profound impact on society.

Islamic Architecture has enriched design with a wide variety of structural shapes, including among others, unique arches, a wide variety of vaults and domes which allow for new forms to be developed. The influence that these structural forms have in non-Islamic countries will be one of the themes of the Conference.

There is much to learn from past experiences to arrive at solutions which are environmentally sound and sustainable in the long term. As conventional energy resources become scarce, the Islamic design heritage can offer invaluable lessons on how to deal in an efficient manner with cases of hard and extreme environments.

Traditional architecture and urban environment in most Islamic countries is now being eroded by overemphasis on global type of architecture and city planning. As a consequence, many regions are losing their identity. The Conference will aim to review these developments in the light of what the classical Islamic urban designs and architectures have to offer modern society.

An equally important part of the Meeting will analyse the materials employed and the types of structural elements, particularly those unique to Islamic architecture. Associated topics of discussion will include music, textiles and ceramics, which are essential parts of the architectural fabric. The Conference will encompass papers on construction materials, including not only stone and brick but also more perishable materials like adobe, wood and reeds.

Preserving that Heritage also requires the development of appropriate conservation techniques in response to the different materials used and the ways structural forms work, including under extreme conditions, such as earthquakes.

Papers relevant to the influence of Islamic architecture on the development of new structural form, shape and design in the Western countries are particularly welcome.

The Meeting will be of interest to all researchers, practitioners and government employees actively involved in the topic of Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Islamic Heritage 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Historical aspects
• Heritage studies
• Archeological studies
• Mosques and minarets
• Conservation and restoration
• Oman and Eastern Saudi Arabian Architecture
• Citadels and fortifications
• Urban environment
• Baths and caravansereis
• Palaces
• Houses and gardens
• Bridges and dams
• Irrigation systems
• Climate adaptability
• Structural aspects
• The use of light and orientation
• Construction materials
• Architecture in Malaysia and Indonesia
• Mediterranean Islamic heritage
• The upper Gulf (Kuwait and Basra)
• The central Gulf (Bahranian and Qatar)
• The lower Gulf architecture
• The Persian coast and islands
• The Trucial coast (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates)
• Classical Ottoman architecture
• The Balkans legacy
• The Black and Caspian sea legacies
• Islamic architecture along the Silk Road
• Islamic architecture in China
• Afghanistan and Persia
• Islamic architecture in the ex-Soviet republics
• The Indian continent
• Islamic architecture in Al-Andalus and other Spanish regions
• Influences in the Americas
• Islamic architecture in Africa
• New cities and the search for authenticity

Find out more on the conference webpage.