Dear Future COV4 Participants,
I am pleased to introduce the Second Circular of the forthcoming Cities on Volcanoes conference, to be held in Quito Ecuador in January 2006. This is the fourth meeting of COV, which is now a leading forum where volcanologists, city planners, authorities and businesses can meet and discuss the effects of volcanic eruptions on society, infrastructure and human and economic development, and ways to mitigate these effects.
Only a few months have past since the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster. This sad event illustrated in a horrible way how important it is to be well-informed and well-prepared before Nature strikes. This is the main mission of COV and I am sure that the 2006 Quito meeting will be instrumental in reaching these goals.
I hope that all of you will take advantage of the beautiful volcanic setting, which has been affected by the eruptions of 3 volcanoes since 1999. There is much to learn from these eruptions in Ecuador and, of course, from one another at this forthcoming meeting.
Prof. Oded Navon
President of IAVCEI |