[USCC] FWD: International Scientific and Practical Conference "Vermicomposting and Vermiculture as basis of ecological landownership in XXI century - problems, outlooks, achievements"

[Jim McNelly]

Dear Colleagues,

We are cordially inviting you to visit 
International Scientific and Practical Conference 
“Vermicomposting and Vermiculture as basis of 
ecological landownership in XXI century – 
problems, outlooks, achievements” which will be 
held in Minsk, Belarus, from June 4 till June 8, 2007.

We welcome all participants and we hope for active collaboration.

It will cover all the scientific and practical 
aspects of vermicomposting and vermiculture, 
effects on fertility and remediation of 
contaminated sites.  The conference will address 
future priorities in the area of 
vermitechnology.  The conference will provide a 
broad scientific and practical view of 
vermitechnology and will also feature focused 
sessions on issues of practical interest or 
concern.  It will be cover themes connected with 
biodiversity of soil organisms and their function 
in soil, contribution of soil zoology to 
integrated ecosystem studies, trophic 
relationship and food webs, disturbance and 
resilience of soil organism communities, and 
effects of environmental changes on soil organisms.

Conference information Date: 4 – 8 June 2007 
Location: Institute of Zoology of NAS, 
Akademicheskaya, 27, Minsk, Belarus Conference 
topics Session 1 Soil organisms and their role in 
soil fertility Earthworm biodiversity and 
biogeography Influence of earthworms on soil 
organic matter dynamics, nutrient dynamics and microbial ecology.

Session 2 Humus substances – their functions, 
properties and molecular structure Transformation 
of humus substances by soil biota
3.  Production and application of humic 
preparations Session 3 Earthworms and waste 
management Restoration of soil with help of earthworms
3.  Earthworms ecotoxicology Session 4 Selection 
of earthworms Biology and ecology of earthworms 
Vermiculture and cultivation of different organisms Session 5
1.  Technology of waste product composting
2.  Methods of vermicomposting and vermiculture
3.  Biotechnology of products on the basis of 
biohumus (vermihumus) and earthworms Minsk 
Located in Europe and capital of Belarus, an 
ancient and beautiful city with a long and 
exciting history.  It was founded in 1067.  In 
spite of modernization, the city has retained its 
medieval heritage in the old town, with its 
narrow winding streets and closely-packed red-tiled roofs.
Population: almost 2 000 000.

Minsk is a hive of activity: dining, shopping, 
sunbathing and swimming, movies, theaters, opera, 
museums.  Minsk has something for everyone.


Conference holding place and public transports 
The conference will be held at Institute of 
Zoology of NAS, Akademicheskaya street 27.  For reaching holding place:
 From Railway station – by Metro (station Academy of Sciences)
 From airport “Minsk-1” (in the centre of Minsk) 
– by bus N 100 (bus stop “Academy of Sciences”)
 From airport “Minsk-2” (25 km away) – by 
express-bus (bus stop “Academy of 
Sciences”).  Regular bus service to Minsk is provided.
We are very glad to meet you in Airports and Railway station!!!
Please, inform us about arrival date and time.
Presentation/demonstration materials The main 
conference sessions will comprise of selected 
oral presentations.  There will al be the 
opportunity for short oral presentations (5 
minutes) of selected posters.  A poster 
exhibition will be arranged for all accepted posters.

Oral contributions, lasting 20 minutes (plenary 
presentations) or 10 minutes (session 
presentations) plus 5 minutes for discussion, 
will be selected on the basis of their synthetic 
overview on the relevant subject, and assigned to 
sessions to the topics listed above.  More 
technical topics will be presented as 
posters.  Participants should submit 
contributions, written in English, relating to 
one of the topics listed above and complete the 
registration form.  Please follow the 
instructions given, in particular, use the 
attachment file model provided for appropriate 
formatting Overhead and slide projectors will be 
furnished on a standard basis.  Other forms of 
technical support can be made available on 
request: PC with Power Point installed for 
dynamic Power Point and multi-standard 
video.  Power Point presentations are preferred.

Posters .  A specific area will be designated for 
poster exhibition.  Posters will be displayed in 
two-days series in corresponding with the 
scheduling of the session to which they 
appertain.  Poster size will be 1,4 m high and by 
1 m wide.  They should either be mounted directly 
on a rigid support or on one compatible with 
proper mounting on a rigid support (on the spot).

A book collecting in accepted contribution 
abstracts will be distributed at the beginning of 
the conference and will be available to all participants at the conference.

Exhibition In concomitance with the conference 
and next to the poster display area, a technical 
exhibition will be opened to all the 
professionals of the sector: manufactures, 
operators, trainers, editors
 Instruction for the 
preparation of papers to be published in the 
proceedings of the International conference These 
instructions are designed to provide authors with 
simple guidelines to help then to prepare their 
articles.  These guidelines shall be strictly 
observed in order to homogenize the presentation 
and to reduce publication time to a minimum.  As 
a further supporting effort towards authors, a 
model paper, pre-formatted within all required 
specifications, will be provided to each author 
as an E-mail attachment (or on a diskette upon 
request) together with the notification of 
acceptance.  Please, refer to the model provided 
and check with the list that nothing is missing 
before giving your article to the secretariat of the conference.

The original article is to be printed on 18 x 26 
cm in Times New Roman 12 points.  (It is 
therefore recommended to set left and right 
margins at 3 cm and 1,5 cm, up and down at 2 
cm).  The printout will be made on white in A4 
format, only on one side of the paper.  The text 
is to be typed single-spaced.  Maximum manuscript 
length, both for oral and poster presentations, 
is set at 4 pages, without illustrations.  Each 
page is numbered.  The title (capitals, 12 pt, 
Times New Roman bold, centered).  Authors 
(numerical points to institute if more than one) 
– 12 pt, Times New Roman bold, 
centered).  Institute(s) (organization), address, 
e-mail: first author only – 12 pt, italic, centered.

References: Citations in the text should be 
written as Black (1992), (White 1995) or (Black & 
White 1998) When a paper has more than two 
authors, it should be referred to as Smith et al 
(1990).  Multiple references in the text are 
given in chronological orders (Smith 1975, Green 
1980, Black & White 1998).  All references (but 
not any that has not been cited in the text) 
should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the paper.

Names of journals are abbreviated according to 
international standards.  Please use spelling 
programs to minimize grammatical errors.
Examples:

Journal paper Dale V.H., Bayeler S.C.  Challenges 
in the development and use of ecological 
indicators// Ecological Indicators.  – 2001.  – Vol.1, N 1.  – P.  3 - 10.
Book:
Borror D.J., Tripleton C.A., Johnson N.E.  An 
introduction to the study of insects.  – Saunders 
College Publ.  : Philadelphia, 1989.  – 875 p.
Chapter in book:

Dennis R.L.H., Williams W.R.  Implications of 
biogeographical structures for the conservation 
of European butterflies //Ecology and 
conservation of butterflies.  – Chapman and Hall: London, 1995.  – P.213 – 230.
Computer files:

Articles should be in MS Word, format Word or RTF.

This standardization of article format is to help 
us to edit the papers and it will increase the 
quality of our published proceedings.
Finally, we remind you that deadline for articles 
is March 15.  They should be sent to: soilzool at biobel.bas-net.by

Please write “Conference” in the subject of the 
E-mail, to help us keep things straight.

Good luck!!!

Fill in the form below and send it by e-mail to 
soilzool at biobel.bas-net.by or by surface mail to address:

  Institute of Zoology of NAS, Akademicheskaya 
27.  220072, Minsk, Belarus To: Svetlana Maksimova

Registration form
Last name
First name
Prof .  Dr.  Student Mr Mrs Ms Miss
Organization Position
Address:
Street/P.O.  Box Postal code/City Country
Phone Fax E-mail

  I wish to attend the conference and submit a contribution on the topic of:
_____________________________________________________________________________ 
preferred form: oral/poster (delete as appropriate)

I wish to attend the conference without submitting a contribution
I would like an exhibition stand I wish to receive the 2nd Announcement
Are you traveling with accompanying persons?  Yes No
Accompanying person name
Dietary requirements
Date of arrival Date of departure
I will need a confirmation letter for the visa application procedure Yes No

Abstract Abstracts not exceeding 4 pages, on the 
subjects of the conference should be submitted to 
the conference organizers before 15 March 2007.

Please send abstract before 15 March 2007 to 
Svetlana Maksimova, e-mail: 
soilzool at biobel.bas-net.by Official conference 
languages Official languages will be Russian, 
Belarussian and English.  A simultaneous 
translation service will be available in the languages for every session.

Hotels For your stay in Minsk during conference 
we offer special prices in its co-operating 
hotels.  The price list and Hotel Registration 
form will appear in Second circular.  In order to 
make your bookings, please complete Hotel 
Registration form and send it by fax/e-mail to 
Svetlana Maksimova Registration Registration form 
must be fulfilled and submitted to Svetlana 
Maksimova.  Registration deadline will be on 15th of March 2007.

Registration fee:
For citizens from people from CIS – 50 $ For 
citizens from other countries – 100 $.
The method of payment is cash transfer.  Account 
number will be in second circular.

Registration fee includes:

- Access to all sessions
- Simultaneous translation to Conference languages
- Conference documentation
- Coffee during morning and afternoon breaks 
Conference Official Dinner On 5th of June 2007, 
at 18:00 hours, an Official Dinner will be offered to Conference participants.

Tourist tour On 5th of June 2007, at 15:00 hours, 
tourist tour “Minsk and its neighbourhoods”.
This visit is not included in registration 
fee.  Price for person is 5 $.  Every people 
interested in the visit must write about it to Svetlana Maksimova.

Travel Minsk can be reached easily by train and 
by airplane, train and car from all world 
parts.  Minsk is situated in the centre of Europe.

Visa Participants who need a visa to enter the 
Belarus should contact Belarus Embassy or 
Consulate well in advance of the Conference 
dates.  When a visa is necessary, an official 
invitation will be provided by the conference Secretary on written request.


Currency Currency is the Belarussian rouble 
(BR).  1 USD is 2 140 BR.  1 EURO is 2 700 BR.
There are many bank branches and cash points in Minsk.

Insurance The organization committee is not 
responsible for diseases or accidents that may 
occur during the Conference.  It won’t cover the 
expenses resulting from the accidents, diseases, 
hospitals or pharmaceutical expenses during the Conference or the excursions.

Climate Minsk - June is the most pleasant month, 
with bright and sunny weather (22 – 24 0 C) and 
cool nights with temperatures (14 – 15 0 
C).  Sweaters or light jackets are recommended.

Time zone Official time in Belarus is GMT + 2 hours.

Preliminary Schedule of the Conference
4th June 2007
9:00 – 20:00 hours – registration and 
documentation delivery.  The registration of the 
participants arrived at the conference, will take 
place at the Institute of Zoology of NAS (Akademicheskaya, 27).

5th June 2007
10:00 – 13:00 – Plenary session, coffee-pause
13:00 – 14:30 – Lunch
15:00 – 18:00 – Tourist tour
18:00 – Conference official dinner
6th June 2007
10:00 – 13:00 – Sessions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (including coffee-pause)
13:00 – 14:30 – Lunch
15:00 – 18:00 – Sessions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (including coffee-pause)
All day – Exhibition/ Poster presentations
7th June 2007
10:00 – 18:00 – Tour to vermifarms (including lunch and coffee- pause)


8th June 2007
9:00 – 11:00 - Final sessions, general discussion 
and directives, conclusions.  Departure.

Conference photo The usual place for such an 
event is at the front steps of the Institute of 
Zoology (public entrance).  More information will be given in final program.

For further details and to express your initial interest, please contact to
Svetlana Maksimova
soilzool at biobel.bas-net.by
Institute of Zoology of NAS Akademicheskaya 27.
220072, Minsk, Belarus
Tel.  (37517) 284-21-92 Fax: (37517) 284-10-36 Cell phone: 8-37529- 70-80-554

Do not hesitate to contact me with your requests or questions.

We are looking forward to see you in Minsk!  Welcome!!!