LOCATION The island of Lastovo is located in South Dalmatia, Croatia. The Lastovo archipelago contains a total of 46 islands, of which Lastovo is the largest but still one of the most remotely inhabited in the Adriatic. The island offers more than the joys of the Mediterranean climate. It may pride itself in one of the richest marine ecosystems and extremely dynamic landscape including forests, karstic fields and caves. The Lastovo archipelago was proclaimed Nature Park in 2006. Contrary to most sites in Europe Lastovo still retains a relatively natural night sky, where stars of up to the 7th magnitude may be seen with naked eye. Below is an image of Jupiter's reflection in the sea.

BACKGROUND

The quality of the night sky has been a concern for a number of years. Global increase in light pollution has strengthened the worldwide movement to protect natural dark skies. The Initiative for an International Association of Dark-Sky Parks aims to implement the principles of the Declaration in defence of the quality of Night sky and the right to starlight which was established in 2007 on La Palma1, in particular through its 10th principle: “[a]ll those protected areas which combine exceptional landscape and natural values relying on the quality of their night sky, are called to include protection of clear night skies as a key factor strengthening their mission in conserving nature.”

The initiative will form a strong network of people who will in their respective countries work to reduce light pollution. Their role may be in establishing effective regulatory framework for protection from increasing light pollution and its reduction, in providing scientific input, efforts and raising awareness. The initiative brings together all those with knowledge, experience, responsibilities or motivation to contribute to a positive change.

The aim of the 2010 Symposium on Dark-Sky Parks is to establish an effective long-term framework for reducing light pollution internationally. It will do so by bringing together key players who will come up with the appropriate course of action. The Symposium not only provides a setting for individuals to present their knowledge or attend presentations by leading experts in the field of light-pollution. It also creates an opportunity for networking, collaboration, sharing of information and building trust and relationships.

Symposium participants are site managers, representatives of international and national (non-governmental) organisations, experts in biology, (eco)tourism, natural and cultural heritage, lighting industry, etc.

The Symposium is a five-day event, comprising of quality lectures, field-trips and night observations. The Symposium language is English.

The emphasis of the Symposium is on collaborative and cooperative approaches to multiple disciplines involved in response to the problem of light pollution. The Conference will discuss traditional and recent practical light pollution issues, focusing on strategies, experience and techniques with regard to reducing light pollution.

The program committee welcomes original contributions on the following example topics (the list is non-exhaustive):

The contributions should be targeted to the audience that has some, but not detailed knowledge of the discipline.

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of maximum 1 page giving a clear reflection of the contents and key points of the paper. Symposium presentations are generally 30 minutes in length, including the time for questions and answers. Accepted papers will be presented by their author(s).

The symposium committee will evaluate abstracts based on their quality and relevance.

Submission of abstracts: 17 May 2010.

Notification of acceptance: 24 May 2010.

Submission of papers: 30 July 2010.

Approved papers should be submitted in Word format. The length should not exceed 5000 words. All papers should have an abstract of 100-150 words. Authors should e-mail the papers and the completed submission form (obtained from the website) to: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli..

Copyright

We require a non-exclusive copyright licence for all the papers presented at the Conference and for the presentation material. This includes potential distribution on a Conference CD-ROM and/or the Conference website.

We are looking forward to welcoming you!

Initiative for International Association of Dark-sky Parks

Dark-Sky Slovenia

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1   In 2007 a consortium of international organisations (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO, World Tourism Organization - UNWTO, International Astronomical Union – IAU and others), Secretariats of conventions relevant to biodiversity (Convention on the Biological Diversity, Convention on Migratory Species, Ramsar Convention) and representatives of the academic community met in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

See invitation to camp

DarkSky - invitation