The objective of the workshop was to contribute to the development and implementation of new methodologies for the seismic design of new building and bridge structures and for the evaluation and strengthening of existing structures. It provided a valuable forum to exchange research results and ideas on issues important for seismic risk reduction and the development of future seismic codes. The following topics were addressed:

a) Performance based engineering concepts

At the Workshop, 37 invited participants and 10 observers from 13 countries took part. Papers were submitted well before the Workshop, distributed in the form of preprints, and presented during the first two days of the Workshop. The last two days were devoted to discussions, which were organised in the form of plenary sessions and working group sessions.

The Workshop has led to a greater understanding of many of the issues involved in the development of future seismic codes. The participants agreed that present codes need significant improvements and expansion, and that performance based engineering concepts provide a suitable framework for this purpose. At this time many issues remain unresolved and additional research and studies are needed to develop and implement these concepts. Important research topics were identified. They are contained in the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Workshop.

The participants recognised that common interests exist among researchers and practitioners of the countries represented at the Workshop, that dialogue should continue, and that cooperative research on issues of common interest should be encouraged. A recommendation was made that steps should be taken towards a harmonisation of the framework of seismic codes worldwide.

By the end of this year the Proceedings of the Workshop will be published by A.A.Balkema. The monograph will contain Resolutions, Conclusions and Recommendation made at the Workshop, as well as a compendium of the final versions of the invited papers. The monograph is intended to assess the state-of-the-art in seismic engineering, to define the future directions for the development of seismic design methodologies, and to identify the research needs.

The Workshop was organised by the faculty members and the staff of the Institute for Structural Engineering, Earthquake Engineering and Construction IT at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. In addition to the main sponsors, the following organisations co-sponsored the Workshop: University of Ljubljana; Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts; Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of the Republic of Slovenia; World Seismic Safety Initiative; Kinemetrics, Pasadena; the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG), Ljubljana; IMOS, Ljubljana, and SGP Primorje, Ajdovscina.