Social Program

In addition to the usual conference dinner, a social program will be prepared for accompanying people, including for all participants a choice between a 2.5 hours trekking between the two highest peaks of Madeira (medium-difficult) or a 2.5 hour “levada” / waterway trekking (easy). One afternoon of the conference will be kept free for technical visits to the new airport of Madeira (IABSE outstanding award structure) and selected bridges (national prized).

For the Accompanying Persons rogramme, please go here.

MADEIRA ISLAND

Madeira Island is known as the Pearl of the Atlantic, the floating Garden due to the exuberant vegetation and rich flower variety. The island offers visitors a mild climate as well as subtropical vegetation, which transforms the island into a blossoming garden all year round, and a landscape, beautiful and varied, which opens out into vast panoramas. Madeira has become increasingly popular also due to the trekking possibilities, in the mountains (up to 1900 m) and in the “levadas” – the small canals and waterways to bring the water from the hills to the villages on shore. Furthermore, Madeira offers to visitors a wide variety of other leisure activities, in particular related to sea sports.

Madeira Island, because of its privileged geographical position and mountainous relief, has a surprisingly mild climate. Very mild average temperatures, 22ºC in the summer and 16ºC in the winter, and a moderate level of humidity, confer upon these islands exceptional subtropical features. The seawater temperature is also very mild, because of the influence of the warm Gulf current, presenting averages of 22ºC in the summer and 18º in the winter.

Madeira Island is 620 miles from the European continent, which is the equivalent of a 1 hour 30 minute flight from Lisbon. The island is daily connected from all European hubs, as Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, London or Amsterdam but also Toronto, New York or São Paulo