History
Interests on localization and instabilities in the field of geomechanics date back in the early 1980’s when the first International Workshop on Localization of Soils was organized in Karlsruhe, Germany, February 1988. The first event created such enthusiasm and interest in the fundamental aspects of bifurcation theory to soils, that a second workshop followed suit in Gdansk, Poland, in September 1989. The topic later extended to rock mechanics at the third international workshop in Aussois, France, in September 1993.
The interest grew steadily and the scope was expanded to instabilities and degradations in geomaterials at the workshops that were held in Gifu Japan, September 1997; Perth Australia, November 1999; Minneapolis USA, June 2002; Crete Greece, June 2005; Lake Louise Canada, May 2008; Porquerolles Island France, May 2011; and Hong Kong, May 2014.