Irodalom.indd


146

Joint meeting of the IAG/AIG Working Groups
Human Impact on the Landscape (HILS) and

Geomorphological Hazards (IAGeomhaz)

Bochum, 8–12 September, 2008

It is central in the policy of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG/AIG) 
to set up Working Groups for the study of topical issues in geomorphology. Accordingly, 
at the 6th International Conference on Geomorphology In Zaragoza a dozen new WGs 
were formed, including HILS, initiated by Dénes Lóczy, and IAGeomhaz, led by Irasema 
Alcantara-Áyala, director of the Institute of Geography at the National Autonomous 
University of Mexico (UNAM). There being quite signifi cant overlaps between the research 
activities planned, it had been proposed that a joint meeting would serve the purposes 
of both Working Groups.

The event, hosted by the Ruhr University of Bochum, was an optimal occasion 
to overview the progress both Working Groups had made in the fi rst two years of their 
existence. The 26 items of the Abstracts volume refl ect a combination of mostly related 
anthropo-geomorphological and geohazards topics, among others, the consequences of 
mining, fl ood hazard, the triggering of mass movements. Participants came from seven 
countries, the remotest of them being Mexico, India and Indonesia. 

Two days of paper and poster sessions were followed by discussions on future 
tasks, including the editing of a World Atlas of Human Impact as an end-product of the 
activities within the HILS Working Group. An interesting guided walk presented the history 
of Bochum and the German Coal Mining Museum, providing a unique opportunity to in-
form about the technological progress and environmental and social implications of mining 
activities. Two one-day fi eld trips were organized: one to various sites in the Ruhr District 
and another to the open-cast lignite pits of the Cologne Bight and the Eifel Mountains. 

The problems of river restoration, sewage treatment, land drainage, fl ood control, 
mine rehabilitation, derelict land re-utilization, volcanic reconstruction and many other 
issues were discussed with the guidance of experts in the fi eld. A memorable social event 
was a dinner at a well-preserved farm in the immediate vicinity of the university. 

The participants, perfectly satisfi ed with the program, are grateful to Dr. Stefan 
Harnischmacher (now: University of Koblenz), who invested a lot of work in the success-
ful organization of the meeting.

Dénes Lóczy