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Future of Civil Engineering: Civil Engineers’chanllenges to Environmental Issues

Objectives

The globalization is in full swing in this decade and makes countries all over the world re-consider the development and sustainability of their own national economies and environments. This undoubtedly has some certain effects on the future of engineering societies in each country. Within this respect, the civil engineering societies must re-consider its future with due considerations of globalization and national requirements and expectations.

In advancing globalization of the world, environmental issues have raised not only a local concern but a global concern. The global community is exposed to more complex issues of environment than ever; they are addressed on a global scale e.g. global-warming and desertification, and on a local scale, e.g. air pollution, ground subsidence and soil contamination. The infrastructure development to which civil engineers significantly contribute also has been largely influencing the environment while having been providing the public more convenience in their daily lives.

Civil engineers should deeply realize and carefully consider such environmental issues in case that they participate in project implementations. The civil engineers should make more vigorous efforts in order to minimize foreseeable environmental impacts and to advance the civil engineering technology for improvements of the damaged environment. These challenges should and will be solved successfully with international cooperation among civil engineers beyond borders.

JSCE has offered this opportunity to our Asian neighbors to discuss on civil engineers’ challenges to the environmental issues and civil engineering societies’ contributions to the future of the global society.

Venue: Ritsumeikan University, Biwako-Kusatsu Campus Main Conference Room, Core Station 2^nd Fl.

Date: September 20, 2006

Time: 16:30 - 18:00 local time

Chairman: Osamu Takahashi, Chairman, International Activities Committee

Secretary: Elleng Wang, International Activities Committee

Coordinators: Kozo Katayama, Hiroyuki Yanagawa, International Affairs Section

Panelists:

Dr. Tai Sik Lee	Korean Society of Civil Engineers KSCE Vice President, Int'l Affairs, Dean, Graduate School of Industrial Management and Design, Hanyang University
Mr. Choibalsan Namdag	Mongolian Association of Civil Engineers MACE Past President/ Honorary Member, Director, NewCon Construction and Consulting Co. LTD.
Dr. Yeong-Bin Yang	The Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering CICHE President, Professor, National Taiwan University
Dr. Yoshihisa Shimizu	Japan Society of Civil Engineers Associate Professor in Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Kyoto University
Dr. Syunsuke Ikeda	Japan Society of Civil Engineers Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Agenda

1) Presentations by guest panelists

2) Discussions

3) Closing Remarks

The following topics could be included in a presentation:

A. Current civil engineering in relation to society

B. Civil engineers’ responsibilities and future contributions to society

C. Requested qualities of civil engineers in the globalizing society

D. Civil engineering societies’ responsibilities to the quality of civil engineers

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