The slow flooding of a territory is being developed along with groundwater (aquifer water) table rising up to the soil surface, and it is indicated by soils moistening, and swamping, and flooding of low places...
... former Soviet Union countries had been faced with problem of the slow flooding by groundwater of urban and industrial areas in early 70s of XX century, and currently in each of these countries the slow flooding have become the nation-scale environmental problem...
...the first conference had taken place in 1998, and as a result it had been developed and approved the Integrated Program on the Liquidation of Slow Flooding Consequences in the Areas of the Cities and Settlements..
...a goal of the Second Conference it is assistance in promotion of an effective policy and a strategy for solving the slow flooding problem in the National scale, as a challenge for whole environment.

We are welcome to take the Conference Presidium Chairs and to participate in the conference meetings and exhibition for the head persons and representatives of agencies, companies, professional and scientific associations, foundations, NGOs, regional and municipal authorities and services, Universities, scientific and innovation centers, research & design institutions, .., and independent researchers, lawyers, public mans, and observers… from anywhere - domestic, and foreign, and international.

Key Topics under Discussion:

• recognition the slow flooding problem on a rank of National environmental problem and developing the National action plan to solve the problem;
• finding a strategy and the main directions of actions plans to improve the situation with urban areas slow flooding;
• holding the sustainable development principles, and environmental standards (including international standards) as a real way to solve the slow flooding problem;
• necessary corrections for the State legislation and for the agencies' regulations to achieve the environmental standards compliance with preconditions of solving the slow flooding problem;
• realizing the economical mechanisms and favorable investment climate for involving shared cost funds to the environmental projects;
• international cooperation and innovation environmental projects in connection with the slow flooding problem;
• the slow flooding problem in the framework of public utilities reform;
  social programs connected with the slow flooding problem;
• innovative engineering solutions, equipment, and technologies targeted for prevention and protection against the slow flooding;
• the monitoring and integrated management of the slow flooded areas in the cities and settlements;
  possibilities to transform the slow flooded residential areas into the category of recreation or refuge territories.

Sessions & Sections
There will two plenary sessions (opening ceremony and concluding meeting) and four concurrent sections during the conference. The following subjects for the sections meetings have been planned:

1. Strategic planning, legislative and economic policy in connection with the slow flooding problem;
2. The slow flooding as an environmental problem;
3. Slow flooding problem and the reform of town-planning and housing policy, and the public utilities reform;
4. Innovative engineering solutions, materials, equipment, and technologies should be introduced for environmental projects at urban areas.

There are two types of discussion during the sections: oral reports (not exceeds 15 minutes) and poster papers (5 minutes for speech presentation). Students conference will take place at first day of the Conference. Best students reports will be recommended for second day sections, and the authors will be awarded.

There will be three working languages of the Conference - Ukrainian, Russian and English.
Special volume in English will be published, and synchronous interpretation service (into English only) will be provided
for international guests.

Call for Abstracts & Papers
The volumes of abstracts and of full size papers will be published until the conference started.
The abstracts of not more 1000 words (up to 3 printed pages) in Ukrainian, Russian, or English could be submit
It is strongly required the following information about author(s):
family name and initials (if speaker then full name in the format: family name, given name, middle name or patronymic); position; institution or company; mailing address (street address, ZIP, country name), e-mail address, report type (oral or poster presentation), and the section subject (one of mentioned above).
The same requirements are in force for the student conference participants.

The papers volume of about 300 pages will contain selected papers concerned the conference key topics. The papers of not more 15 printed pages should be prepared following the authors' guides of the scientific journals.
The papers which fit the problem in the best way will be published (condensed versions) in the special periodical issues of the 'Environmental Bulletin' (color pictures are available) and the 'Environment Ecology and Safe Vital Activity'.

Calendar and main events
July 2003 - First Invitation;
August 2003 - Second Circular;
September 15, 2003 - deadline for checks sending;
September 30, 2003 - deadline for abstracts and papers submission;
October 15, 2003 - deadline for money transfer payments.

Technical Organizing Committee

• Grigoriy Semchuk, Head of the State Committee on Housing and Public Utilities of Ukraine;
• Anatoliy Bercuta, Deputy Head of the State Committee on Building and Architecture of Ukraine;
• Leonid Shutenko, Rector of the Kharkiv State Municipal Academy;
• Sergey Razmetayev, Director of the "UkrWodGeo" Institute, Head of Kharkiv Branch of the All-Ukrainian Environmental League.

Executive Secretaries:
Mariya Korovina, Director of the "Envirionment.Science.Technology" Center, Kyiv;
Oleksandr Chebanov, Head of the Land Priotectional Engineering Laboratory in the"UkrWodGeo" Institute, Kharkiv.

The Conference venue, travel and accommodations, fees, social program, terms for reports and publications, etc. are detailed in the First Invitation booklets accessible for download at the Conference Web page.

Also it is available electronic registration and submission the abstracts at the same Web page.

To find the Conference announcement and registration desk in Ukrainian and Russian please visit the Web Site of the "Envirionment.Science.Technology" Center at www.eko.org.ua (українська/русский)

Enquiries should be addressed to:
Dr. Oleksandr Chebanov
The Land Protectional Engineering Lab
Water Management & Environment Problems Institute "UkrWodGeo"
6 Shevchenko Street, Office #205
Kharkiv 61013, UKRAINE
Tel./fax: +38 (057) 243-1156, 247-0055
E-mail: [email protected]