Dear Colleagues, on behalf of the organizing committee and of the Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology (SIMP), the host organization, we would like to invite you to participate in the 2nd European Mineralogical Conference, emc2016 “Minerals, fluids and rocks: alphabet and words of planet Earth”, to be held between the 11th and 15th of September 2016 at the Palacongressi of Rimini, Italy! The starting idea behind a joint conference amongst the European mineralogical societies was “to foster exchange of new research results between the European countries”.

Following the success of the 1st European Mineralogical Congress held in Frankfurt in 2012, emc2016 will showcase the state-of-the-art of mineralogical sciences, promoting exchange of new research results between the European - and international - countries. The title of the emc2016 has been conceived to echo the aphorism by late C. V. Guidotti (19.09.1935-19.05.2005) “Minerals, the Alphabet of Geology, and Rocks, the Words of Geology”. It is meant to convey the message that dealing with mineral sciences in their broadest sense is nothing else that trying to understand what the dynamic Earth is telling us, and that the big picture may be reconstructed by carefully putting together the small parts. Over the five-day program, combining more than forty scientific sessions and six plenary lectures delivered by world-renowned scientists, you will get the chance to engage with all aspects of mineralogical sciences, and have an opportunity to learn and be challenged by the content.

We will be able to offer several field trips, giving you an opportunity to explore Italy, and other satellite events. Facing the Adriatic sea coast of Emilia-Romagna, Rimini was founded by the Romans in 268 BC. The biggest beach resort on the Adriatic Sea, Rimini boasts so many hotels and restaurants with unbeatable quality-price ratio at walking distance from the venue. Palacongressi, is the largest congress center in Italy, equipped with ultra-modern facilities and ample space for poster display and exhibitions. It represents the ideal venue for a meeting like emc2016, where we expect about 1000 participants. Beginning of September is typically mild weather in this region of Italy, with temperature ranging from 20 to 28 °C. At the same time it is low-season for hotel accommodation, making this period very favourable to pre- or post-congress outdoor activities (visits, excursion, field trips).

We look forward to seeing you in Rimini!

Giuseppe Cruciani	Bernardo Cesare