Dear Colleagues,

The first year of the new century was not really very different from the previous years in the last century.  Fortunately, we have not experienced any major earthquake disasters in our member countries.  However, it was again a very busy year for us.  We have worked on modifying our Statutes to improve the effectiveness and impact of EAEE.  The Executive Committee had one meeting in Sion, Switzerland during the 20th Regional Seminar. We discussed in detail the Draft Statutes that was prepared by the President and Secretary General.  In this issue you will find the latest version of the modified EAEE Statutes that will be forwarded to all Delegates of the Member Societies for postal balloting by February 2002.  We are planning to conclude the postal balloting by the end of June 2002 and start a new page with our General Assembly that will take place on Wednesday evening, September 11, 2002.

The 20th Regional Seminar in Sion was organised very proficiently and we enjoyed the hospitality of our Swiss colleagues.

We had also considered publishing a technical journal to be distributed to all our members.  We had meetings with Prof. Benedetti, the Editor of European Earthquake Engineering, which was our official journal since 1985, to implement some changes and to modify the journal to fit the expectations of EAEE.  Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a mutual agreement.  Thus Journal of European Earthquake Engineering became independent of EAEE as of 2001.  We wish them success in their future efforts.  Thus we started debating about the other possibilities for EAEE.  Finally we have decided to convert our Bulletin of European Association of Earthquake Engineering to a technical journal that will be published as four issues per year by Kluwer starting as of 2003.  We are looking forward to full support from all our members.

As you may have seen on the cover page, we have registered our home page in the internet with our initials and made the necessary forwarding agreement with the service provider.  Thus all you have to do is just type www.eaee.org to get connected to our web page.

Toward the end of 2001, the EAEE Central Office has been relocated to its new place at Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of Bogaziçi University at Çengelköy Campus.  In our new office, we are planning to establish a permanent EAEE Library. We are trying to collect copies of all the EAEE proceedings from all the conferences and seminars.  Therefore any contributions from everybody is welcomed.  In the long run we will try to put everything in an ftp server so that the material will be available to everybody.

2002 is an important year for EAEE.  We are going to have our Twelfth European Conference on Earthquake Engineering in London.  As I have written in the invitation message in the Third Circular;

It is my privilege and honour to invite you, on behalf of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering, to participate to the 12th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering.  It will be exactly thirty years since EAEE had its 4th Conference (at that time called Symposium) in London.  The 1972 London Symposium started a new era in EAEE history and we are certain that history will repeat itself.  EAEE is getting ready for major changes in its structure to improve its effectiveness and impact in the field of European Earthquake Engineering.

Since 11th ECEE in Paris in 1998, we have experienced devastating earthquakes in Europe and abroad.  We have witnessed the adverse effects of earthquakes on our structures as well as on our fellow human beings.  We worked very hard to understand the reasons and to find ways to mitigate the earthquake risks.  Now its time for all of us to get together and discuss these new findings and the results of our most recent investigations and research to improve the safety of our structures as well as to minimize the earthquake damage.  Even though it has only been four years since the Paris Conference, there have been significant advances in the field of earthquake engineering. 

Many prominent engineers and scientists from Europe and from all over the World will be with us to share their knowledge and experiences.  We are looking forward to excellent lectures and lively discussions.  The London Conference will surely make a big impact on our understanding of earthquake related phenomenon and on our approach to mitigate the earthquake risks.  We believe that with the recent advances in earthquake engineering, we are starting to have the capabilities to minimise the adverse effects of earthquakes.

Of course there is still a long way to achieve fully earthquake proof human environments.  But with your support and dedication, we are sure that in the not too distant future, we will be able to reach our goal.  The London Conference may be the beginning for this new era in the field of earthquake engineering and in the EAEE history. Therefore you should be there to witness this remarkable change in our profession and in our Association.  The Organising Committee has made all the efforts to create a perfect and stimulating atmosphere for the 12th ECEE.  Besides, London offers endless cultural and tourist attractions, joyful pubs, and lovely restaurants for those of you who do not have the chance to visit this historic but modern city often.  

We take this opportunity to invite you to register for the 12th ECEE, the first European Earthquake Engineering Conference in the new millennium, and looking forward to meeting you between 9th and 13th September 2002 at the Barbican Centre in London.

Atilla M. Ansal

Secretary General