“Lowland” denotes regions of low elevation, which are particularly vulnerable to climatic and environmental changes. For example, global warming, which appears to be causing a rise in sea level, must ultimately affect the safety of coastal dikes and other coastal infrastructures, as well as threaten the water and ecological systems in lowland areas. Lowland regions are also particularly susceptible to natural disasters. Action is now required for the development of new technologies to protect and develop lowland areas and to solve the environmental problems currently being faced in these regions. To achieve this aim, it will be necessary to draw on and to merge several disciplines, such as geotechnical engineering, water resources, city – urban planning and management, coastal engineering and geographical information system etc.
The first International Symposium on Lowland Technology (ISLT) was held in 1998 and since then these international symposium have been held every two years. ISLT1998, 2000,2002,2006 and 2010 were held in Saga, Japan. The ISLT 2004 and ISLT 2008 were held in Bangkok, Thailand and Busan, Korea, respectively. ISLT2012 is the eighth series and will be held in Bali, Indonesia.
The objective of ISLT2012 is therefore to bring together researchers and engineers working in lowland regions, from a broad range of disciplines, in order to present their research results, exchange information, facilitate networking, and to promote and advance technologies related to lowland development.
