Here is the programme of the symposium.
I hope to see you Wednesday, April 30.
Best regards
Maurizio Tavagnutti

PROGRAMME

Tuesday 29 April
15.00 – 20.00 Arrival and registration of participants. (Hotel Internazionale – Viale Trieste, 173 – Gorizia - Italy)

Wednesday 30 April
9.00 - “SALA DEL CONTE” Castle of Gorizia – Official opening of the Symposium.

10.00 – Opening work session – papers

- Urban J./ Kasza A. (Institute of Nature Conservation PAS, KRAKOW - POLAND) - Genetical types of caves in the sandstones of the Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mts, Central Poland

- Tulucan T. (Western University Vasile Goldis Arad, ARAD – ROMANIA) - Exo pseudokarst in ice.

- Eszterhàs I. (Hungary) - Mediaeval Cave-monasteries in Hungary

11.00 – Coffee break

11.15 – Papers

- Gadanyi P. (Hungary) - Lava Tumulus Caves

- Pavuza R. (Dept. of Karst & Caves Museum of Natural Hist. VIENNA - AUSTRIA) - Caves in non-solid rocks of Austria

- Barovic G. (Philosophical faculty. NIKSIC – MONTENEGRO) - Speleo-touristic map of Montenegro

12.30 – Lunch

14.30 – “SALA DEL CONTE” Castle of Gorizia – Opening work session - papers

- Cucchi F. ( Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Ambientali e Marine – University of Trieste – Italy) – Pseudo Kamenitzas

- Eszterhàs I./ Szentes G. (Hungary) - Geological sketch and the caves of the Màtra Mountains in Hungary

- Frumkin A. (Geography Department The Hebrew University, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL) - Basalt caves in Harrat Ash-Shaam, Middle East.

- Comar M. (Italy) - Fenomeni di formazione di cavità da erosione eolica nel deserto di Wapirum in Giordania

- Vinod Kumar Jena (Pt Ravishankar Shukla University, RAIPUR - INDIA) -
Environmental Monitoring of Karst Aquifers and Assessment of physio-chemical Properties of Karst Water

16.00 – Coffee break

16.15 – Papers

- Calandri G. / Gobis D. (Italy) - I flysch del Ponente Ligure (Italia occidentale): Pseudocarsismo e carsismo.

- Peša V. (Vlastivedné muzeum a galerie, Ceská Lípa, CZECH REPUBLIC)
- Elbsandsteingebirge (Böhmen / Sachsen) – Urgeschichtliche Kulthöhlen und die Besiedlungsstruktur der Felslandschaft

- L’udovit G./ Bella P. (Slovakia) - Spràva slovenskych jaskyn

17.00 – Closing session

16.00 – Extrasymposium - Museum of the Great War – Visit to the exhibition

17.00 – Extrasymposium - Museum Castle of Gorizia – Visit to the exhibition

Evening: Assembly of the Pseudokarst Commission of UIS (Hotel Internazionale – Viale Trieste, 173 – Gorizia - Italy)

Thursday 1st May

9.30 – HOTEL INTERNAZIONALE – Opening work session - papers

Mlejnek R., Ouhrabka V. & Ružicka V. (Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceské Budejovice, CZECH REPUBLIC) - Poseidon: pseudokarst system in sandstones in the Czech Republic: geomorfological structure and biogeographical importance

- Furlani S., Cucchi F. (Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Ambientali e Marine, Università degli Studi di Trieste, ITALY) - Short-term micro-morphology changes on sandstones.

10.30 – Coffee break

10.45 – Papers

Lyakhnitsky Yu./ Vodovets M. (Russian Geological Research Institute (VSEGEI), Saint-Petersburg - RUSSIA) - Pseudokarst in sandstone of the Leningrad Region.

- Cigna A. (Italy) - The family of karst phenomena: some physical-chemical parameters of the rocks involved in.

- aDe Waele J., bSanna L., cRossi A., (Italy) - Pseudokarstic cavities in pyroclastic rocks: some examples from North Sardinia
aUniversity of Bologna, bUniversity of Sassari, cUniversity of Modena and Reggio Emilia,Italy.

12.30 – Lunch

14.30 – HOTEL INTERNAZIONALE – Opening work session - papers

- Calandri G./ Gobis D. (Italy) - Pseudocarsismo dell’area Sahariana.

- Ahmad Afrasiabian (Managing Director of Pars Karst Company and founder of Iran Karst Research Center TEHRAN – IRAN) - Karst features in Zagros Rnage, in Iran.

- Ayub S. (Technical and Scientific Projects AKAKOR GEOGRAFICAL EXPLORING, LIERNA (Lecco) – ITALY) - Aspects of Geology and Geomorphology of the deepest cave in the world quartzite (Amazon, Brazil)

- aCucchi F., aFurlani S., aZini L., bTretiach M. (Italy) - Weathering by endolitic lichens on limestone surfaces: a geostatistical approach.
aDipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Ambientali e Marine, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy,
bDipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy

16.30 – Coffee break

16.45 – Papers

- Calandri G./ Gobis D. (Italy) - Pseudocarsismo nelle sieniti del Malawi meridionale.

- Maleckar F. (Slovenia) - Poljanska buža nel flysch dell’Istria nord occidentale.

- Simmert H. (Germany) - Even the pseudokarst-commission decides to carry out the 11. Symposium in Dresden (Germany), I give a short overview of this area. - Poster: Pseudokarst in Saxony

17.00 – Closing session

17.30 – Presentation of “Atti del Convegno ALCADI”

16.00 – Extrasymposium - Pallazzo Attems Petzenstein – Visit to the exhibition “AUCHENTALLER”

20.30 – Meeting of Commission for Pseudokarst

Evening: Video-presentations, films, etc.

Friday 2 May

9.00 – HOTEL INTERNAZIONALE –- Visit to the Grotta di Villanova (Villanova delle Grotte – Udine) with bus.

12.00 – Lunch (Taipana – Udine)

14.30 - Visit to the “Campo di Bonis”

17.00 – Departure to Gorizia

20.00 – Dinner and closing of the symposium

It’s a great pleasure for the French Federation of Speleology
(FFS) to inform you of the opening of Frederik Hammel Prize to all European cavers, this year, in the frame of the European Speleological Congress “Vercors 2008″, “, organised by FFS under the patronnage of the European Speleological Federation (FSUE). 
The prize was been created in 1990 after the tragic death of Frederik Hammel in the Gouffre Achama Lezia (part of the Système Saint-Vincent in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in France) on August 1st 1988. You can find more details about this accident on :
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9rik_Hammel
The Frederik Hammel Prize is aimed at rewarding work which has a bearing on accident prevention or cave rescue techniques.
Such work, presented in writing, must be innovative and applicable to caving in general. It is awarded every second year among the FFS. This year, on the occasion of the European Congress, the Prize is open to every European cavers, members of a national organisation of the FSUE,
including European non-EU countries. The total amount of the Prize has been raised at 2000 euros for this year.
The candidates (individuals or cavers groups) who want to apply to the Frederik Hammel Prize 2008, should write their candidature either in French, or in English, in both case with a summary in French.
The files are to be sent :
- by post mail to :
FFS - Prix Frederik Hammel  28 rue Delandine  F-69002 Lyon
(France)
- or by email to : secretariat @ ffspeleo.fr
with as email title “Candidature - Prix Frederik Hammel 2008″
The candidatures should arrive to FFS headquarters before July 15th 2008 at 4pm.

The laureates of the Frederik Hammel Prize 2008 will be awarded by a European jury on the 29th of August 2008, during next European Speleological Congress in Lans-en-Vercors.
The details of the rules governing the award of the Frederik Hammel Prize are available on :
http://fsue.ffspeleo.fr/main6/prix-frederik-hammel.pdf
The content of the application file is detailed at article 9.
For your information, the former laureates of the Prize are named on :
http://fsue.ffspeleo.fr/main6/otherawarded-projects.html
Should you have any further question about the Prize, please contact the Frederik Hammel Prize
Delegation at :
frederik-hammel.award @ eurospeleo.org
If you need to check wether your country is a member of the European Speleological Federation (FSUE), in order to know if you can apply, you can contact the FSUE officers at :
contact @ eurospeleo.org
We wish you good luck for the mounting of your application,
Best Speleological Regards,

Bernard THOMACHOT & Olivier VIDAL
Délégué aux Prix Fédéraux & Délégué FSUE
Fédération Française de Spéléologie (FFS) & Fédération
Spéléologique de l’Union Européenne (FSUE)
bernard.thomachot @ ffspeleo.
fr & olivier.vidal @ ffspeleo.fr

This symposium shall be a platform for speleologists, representatives of NGOs and other public authorities to discuss about strategies and co-operations for cave and karst protection, to plan future actions, to exchange knowledge etc. on an international level. The European Speleological Congress is a fantastic occasion to bring together speleologists from all over Europe and we would like to use this opportunity, too.

For this symposium, the proceedings and future publications of our commission we are looking for YOU - creative speleologists, who enjoy designing and developing new things, to create our commission logo. Be as creative as you want - all ideas are welcome - and send your proposal for the new logo of the European Cave Protection Commission latest till the 15th June 2008 to protection@eurospeleo.org. Thank you! The final logo, which will be voted by the commission members, will be presented on the first day of the symposium together with the designer.

Furthermore we would like to organise as part of the symposium an exhibition about cave protection in European countries - good and bad examples. For that reason we kindly ask all clubs or federations to contribute posters for this exhibition. Maximum poster dimension shall be 75 x 120 cm (width x height). Please send us a mail till the 1st July with a pdf-version of your poster as attachment. This pdf will be, assuming that you agree, published on our homepage for a later download.

We hope to see you all in Vercors!

For the FSUE European Cave Protection Commission,

Christiane Grebe
Head of Commission
protection@eurospeleo.org
www.fsue.org

The application of speleothems to studies of paleoclimatology, paleoenvironmental change and paleohydrology has greatly increased in the past decade due to the increased analytical speed and resolution available, as well as the need to generate precisely dated records of past environments.
Their use as proxies of past terrestrial environmental change includes published records of rainfall and temperature, vegetation dynamics, and atmospheric circulation such as tropical cyclones. Speleothem parameters analyzed to obtain these proxy records include speleothem calcite growth rate, trace elements, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and organic compounds. Given the wide interest in using speleothems in paleoenvironmental proxy records, studies that evaluate the utility of speleothem proxies are required to maximize their potential. Abstracts are invited on studies that use modern karst systems as a principal means for such assessments, wherein the processes that control the physical and chemical variations can be directly examined.
Details for abstract submission
Go to: http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2008AM/top/index.epl
Topical Session number: 20
Session title: Assessment of speleothem paleoenvironmental proxies using studies in modern karst systems
Presentation mode: Oral
Abstract Deadline: June 3, 2008. The electronic submission form will go off line at midnight, Eastern Time.
Session leaders
Jay Banner, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University
Station C1100, Austin, TX 78712, Phone: 512-471-5016, banner@mail.utexas.edu.
Andrew Baker, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University
of Birmingham, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT
United Kingdom, Phone: 44 121 415 8133, Fax: 44 121 414 5528,
a.baker.2@bham.ac.uk

The activity in Fa 7 (Cima dei Foppazzi - Premolo - Bg - Italy) has been suspended for the difficulties to reach the entry, the end of the thaw must be waited. In 2007 two new branches have been explored: Gasteropoli, a beautiful series of pits that go back to the principal way to - 200 and The Wall that it begins to -150 and it goes straight down with two beautiful pits of 80 and 85 meters. Follows a 30 and then a cranny of few centimeters… the fund of this branch to -354. The principal way has brought us in a discreet dimensions active meander. This with some small pits it reaches -410 in a little passage where is necessary to be enlarged and where a little area and a curve are seen beyond. The air tide is always beautiful strong. The relief developed is 1.150 meters, almost all vertical. For the G. S. Valseriana Talpe Stefano Masserini.

Traslated by Annalisa Basili

Protagonists the speleos of the GSM - Malo (VI) and obviously, the great abyss.
The abyss “Corno” reaches now -620 mt of depth around. We are stopped above a pit esteemed around 100 mt.

The exploration report, here: http://www.speleomalo.it/news/

FORMAT OF ABSTRACTS AND PAPERS:
Titles and Authors: The title and topic, to be written in boldface, must be centered at the head of the paper, with the name of author(s), sponsoring institution or program and e-mail address aligned to the right immediately below the said headline.
Abstracts: For purposes of publication by oral, graphic or video presentations, in less than 200 words in Word 6 format or higher, using justified 12-point simple Times New Roman font style on A4 pages with 2.5-cm-wide margins on all four sides and 1.5 line spacing, to be e-mailed to the Organizing Committee before June 30, 2008 (see Workshop e-mail
address).
Length of Papers: Papers will have a maximum of 12 pages (including charts, photographs and references).
Format: In Word 6 format or higher, using justified 12-point simple Times New Roman font style, with boldfaced titles, on A4 pages with 2.5-cm-wide margins on all four sides and 1.5 line spacing. Use of footnotes is not allowed. All notes will be referenced at the end of the paper.
Illustrations, charts and photographs: A maximum of two pages with illustrations, charts and photographs will be allowed. All samples will be in JPG format.
Taking into account the intention of publishing all papers in the memoirs of the Workshop, they must be submitted before September 1, 2008. No deadline will be extended. Only three papers and posters will be allowed per author, be they individual or collective.
PRESENTATION OF PAPERS:
Speakers will keep within the scheduled fifteen minutes to present the paper, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. The use of overhead and Data Show projectors, as well as any other related equipment, will be requested in advance.
REGISTRATION:
The Workshop is aimed at professionals, students and specialists related to and interested in the study, management, protection and preservation of cave
art. Registration fees are: CUC $70 for professionals and CUC $40 for students (on presentation of the relevant documentation) until September 30, 2008. After that date, fees will be CUC $100 y CUC $70, respectively.
Accompanying persons will pay CUC $50 until September 30 and CUC $80 after
that date. Fees include: certificate of attendance, documents and CD with
the papers presented, welcome cocktail, and collateral activities.
OFFICIAL ADDRESS:
Ángel Graña González, Fundación “Antonio Núñez Jiménez” de la Naturaleza y el Hombre, Calle 5ta B, No. 6611 e/ 66 y 70, Playa, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba, CP 10300 E-mail: angel@fanj.cult.cu; angel_grana@yahoo.com
GENERAL INFORMATION:
A package tour to attend the III International Workshop on Rock Art is available at Agencia de viajes PARADISO, the official travel agency, consisting of an 8-day-7-night CP plan in downtown Havana hotels.
SPECIAL OFFER (all prices in CUC per night per person)
HOTEL
Double room
Single room

Comodoro
$40.00
$51.00

Neptuno
$39.00
$50.00

Tritón
$39.00
$50.00

Montehabana
$35.00
$46.00

Prices include: CP Plan (Accommodation and Breakfast)
In-Out Transfer
Registration to the Workshop
Personalized Assistance
All hotels are very near the “Antonio Núñez Jiménez” Foundation for Nature and Humanity, where the Workshop will be held.
The above prices are expressed in CUC; the price for a double room in Hotel Montehabana, the nearest to the venue, is CUC $35.00 per person per night.
If you are interested in the above accommodation, please contact:
María C. Valdés Fernández
Especialista Comercial Eventos  Agencia Paradiso
E-mail: maricary@paradis.artex.cu
tatielsa@yahoo.es
eventos@paradis.artex.cu
Telephone number: (53)(07) 836-2124
Participants not traveling by the above Package Tour must pay an Additional Registration Fee of $50.00 CUC.
The Travel Agencies by country in charge of organizing attendance to the Workshop on the full package will be soon announced. For further information, please contact the official agency of the III International Workshop on Cave Art:
Agencia Paradiso ARtex, S.A., Calle 23 Esquina a P, Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba, CP 10400. Telephone number: (53-07) 836-2124
Included in the program is a visit to the Ambrosio Cave for an additional price per person of CUC $61.00, which covers:
Round trip
Lunch
Locker room to change clothes and toiletries
Free time at will at Varadero Beach, where the Cave is located

Abstract by Annalisa Basili   Translated by Claudia Rossetti

The cave 1661 in Grigna ( so called “Abisso Speleo Salmonato”) had been explored in october up to a well with departure in a bottleneck to be enlarged, from where was possible to see a following vertical. Once furnished with the necessary equipment to dig out, Davide Corengia, Fosco Ratt and Andrea Maconi restarted exploring. After having widened, in about one hour and half of work, the narrow passage on the well and the window, that gives access to this new zone, they begin the exploration: a first P15, a following P10, two jumps and a further well. The place is getting wider below us; we are in a big fracture 25 meter high.

Here the cave starts to become wet. To the base a landslide, a new jump (P20) and it is needed to secure the well’s start (instable rocks of 20-25 kg). At the bottom of the well (about 25-30 meter deep), a window shows an enormous ambient. It is getting late, the drill is unloaded… we have to come back, but now the explored well reach -100 meter and we think 200 meter extension…there are still many things to see and the well is waiting to be explored..

Gorgs 2007 was a succes with 341 participants, it took place in Tremp (Lérida) and by the 1st time in Spain it was co organized with the FCE (Federació Catalana d’Espeleologia).

In parallel it will take place the II International Canyoneering Congress, with a good number of proposals including technical and scientific conferences.

The limit for the sending of abstracts is the 24 February (included) and for the accepted articles, the 15 May.

It will also take place the I National and International Photography Canyonneering Contest and the Ist Symphosium about Regulations and Prohibitions in Descente Canyon.

You are invited to participate in them,please if interested write us.

The official web link: http://www.feec.org/
The dates to present proposals for projections, conferences,etc is already open. If you wish to participate please write to: barrancs@feec.org.