On behalf of Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, I am very pleased to invite you to attend the International Conference “ICDS12- DURABLE STRUCTURES: from construction to rehabilitation”, which will be held from 31 May to 1 June 2012, at the Congress Centre of LNEC, Lisbon.

The organization of this International Conference was born within the DURATINET network as a sequence to two previous international conferences on a similar theme: MEDACHS´08 in Lisbon, Portugal, and MEDACHS´10 in La Rochelle, France. The main objective of this conference is to provide a forum for discussion and knowledge transfer between academic researchers, structural engineers, producers of building and repair materials, users, owners and managers of structures. The conference will also provide the opportunity to introduce engineering students to the themes of structural durability and sustainability. To encourage young researchers to submit their papers, the best oral and poster presentations will receive an award.

In association with the ICDS12, the Course “Testing techniques for structures inspection” and the “DURATINET Transnational Workshop “organized by DURATINET Project will be held in the two previous days to International Conference, on 29th and 30th of May.

The conference will be held in the beautiful city of Lisbon, with its picturesque old quarters contrasting with famous monuments and modern areas.

I encourage your active participation, and look forward to welcoming you to Lisbon.

Manuela Salta