The 2020 Conference on Engineering and Architecture Design Education(EADE-2020) has been organised under the patronage of the Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland, in collaboration with: the Faculty of Architecture at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia; the Faculty of Architecture at Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland; and the World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education (WIETE), Melbourne, Australia.

It was planned to take place at Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland, in five days, between 15 and 19 June 2020. But because of the coronavirus spreading over the world and the inability to travel internationally, the host Faculty decided to carry out the Conference over the Internet in three days, between 16 and 18 June 2020. Hence, the Conference commenced over the Internet on Tuesday, 16 June 2020.

Professor Lucyna Nyka, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland, and Vice-President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC) initiated the Opening Ceremony by introducing Professor Krzysztof Wilde, Rector of Gdańsk University of Technology and a Member of the Polish Academy of Science (PAN), who, as the Conference Patron, welcomed the participants and officially opened the Conference.

With the WIETE Director, Professor Zenon J. Pudlowski’s inability to participate, Professor Robert Špaček of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia; and President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC), welcomed and greeted the participants on behalf of the WIETE staff and its global network of members and associates. Other welcome addresses were presented by Professor Jacek Gyurkovich, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland; Professor Sabina Kuc of the Faculty of Architecture at Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland, and Vice-President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC); as well as Professor Jakub Szczepański, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland, on behalf of the EADE-2020 Local Organising Committee.

Two interesting and stimulating Opening Addresses were presented, first entitled: Paradigm Shift in Architectural Education - Reflection of Three Generations; co-authored by Professor Robert Špaček, Dr Martin Uhrík and Mr Roman Hajtmanek of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, and the second by Professor Lucyna Nyka of Gdańsk University of Technology, entitled: Developing Solutions for Flood Prone Areas using Scenario Models: Assigning Students to Research Tasks.

Close to 50 papers were presented at the Conference over the three days and, as Professor Nyka pointed out …the Conference has appeared to be a splendid platform for the exchange of ideas and revealed the diversity of approaches to education related to different cultural and geographical backgrounds and experiences, spanning teachers from South Africa, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland.

In his closing remarks, Prof. Špaček commented that …There is a saying: everything must happen for the first time. Thus, we had the first on-line conference. On the one hand, we missed the discussions during the coffee breaks, the welcome drinks, the conference banquet, the field excursion, but on the other hand, we created an evidence that it is impossible to stop us, when we want to share our knowledge and experiences regarding education.