Editorial

Welcome at Challenging Glass 8!We gradually emerge from two difficult years of the covid-19 pandemic raging through the world in waves of constantly changing intensities. The associated uncertainties really put the ‘challenging’ into Challenging Glass this time. Still, some of our peers are not able to join us in Ghent, and they will be sorely missed. Nevertheless, we are happy to be able to return this year to the ‘real thing’: a live event which allows the international glass community to finally meet again in person. An excellent opportunity, especially within the UN-declared International Year of Glass 2022. We look forward to reconnect with international colleagues and old friends, but we also want to extend a particularly warm welcome to new and young peers who perhaps have not yet had many opportunities to build their professional network. Dedicated as we are to the high standards of the Challenging Glass Conferences, we are once again proud to present a very promising programme. No less than five keynote speakers will share their original insights on glass with us: Stéphany Le Rhun on glass and circularity; Julian Jones on glass and bio-based materials; Markus Feldmann on the oncoming Eurocode on the Design of Glass Structures; and finally Robert Capel and Iris Rombouts on their latest glass projects. In addition, over 70 papers will be presented by experts from around the world, showcasing the latest findings in academia, practice and industry. Moreover, a special session on adhesive bonding in glass construction is organised by the European COST Action CertBond CA18120 - Reliable roadmap for certification of bonded primary structures. All papers have been peer reviewed by our scientific committee and are published Open Access in Volume 8 of the online Challenging Glass Conference Proceedings. A selection of papers has been subjected to a separate double-blind peer-review process and is published in the special Challenging Glass issue of the Glass Structures & Engineering journal (SpringerNature). Many thanks go to our sponsors, Scientific Committee members, authors and attendees to make it happen. Let’s enjoy together! Jan Belis, Freek Bos & Christian LouterConference OrganisersJune 2022