The main motivation for the organization of the Advanced Research Workshop in Belgirate was the promotion of discussions on the most recent issues and the future perspectives in the field of Solid State lonics. The location was chosen on purpose since Belgirate was the place were twenty years ago, also then under the sponsorship of NATO, the very first international meeting on this important and interdisciplinary field took place. That meeting was named "Fast Ion Transport in Solids" and gathered virtually everybody at that time having been active in any aspect of motion of ions in solids. The original Belgirate Meeting made for the first time visible the technological potential related to the phenomenon of the fast ionic transport in solids and, accordingly, the field was given the name "Solid State lonics". This field is now expanded to cover a wide range of technologies which includes chemical sensors for environmental and process control, electrochromic windows, mirrors and displays, fuel cells, high performance rechargeable batteries for stationary applications and electrotraction, chemotronics, semiconductor ionics, water electrolysis cells for hydrogen economy and other applications. The main idea for holding an anniversary meeting was that of discussing the most recent issues and the future perspectives of Solid State lonics just twenty years after it has started at the same location on the lake Maggiore in North Italy.

Lectures.- 1 New routes in the development of chemical sensors: surface devices.- 2 Materials and concepts for solid state electrochemical devices.- 3 Optical properties of transition-metal and rare earth ions in beta aluminas.- 4 Intercalation compounds.- 5 Polymer electrolytes and intercalation electrodes: fundamentals and applications.- 6 Is there a future for lithium-batteries as high energy density source in electrical engine vehicles? Some recent trends.- 7 Ion mobility in chalcogenide semiconductors; Room temperature creation of bipolar junction transistor.- 8 Mixed conductors for negative electrodes.- 9 Surface oxygen exchange kinetics of solid oxide ion conductors.- 10 Ionic conduction in sulphates.- 11 Copper solid electrolyte-copper(I) halide and alkali halide systems.- 12 Ionic conduction in glasses.- 13 Chemical vapor deposition techniques for thin films of solid electrolytes and electrodes.- 14 Silver solid state energy storage devices.- 15 Bismuth-based oxide conductors novel structural and electrical features.- 16 Composite electrolytes with special reference to Copper Chloride-Alumina systems.- Student presentations.- 17 Anisotropy in the ionic conductivity of K3NdSi3O8(OH)2.- 18 Peculiarities in the low temperature ion and electron conductivity of solid oxide electrolytes.- 19 Chemical analysis and structural investigations of sodium and lanthanide ion-exchanged beta-aluminas.- 20 Electrical relaxation in polymer electrolytes.- 21 Quadrupole-broadened NMR-MAS spectra of disordered materials: acquisition and analysis.- 22 Experimental working group report :-What is the experimental status of solid state ionics (SSI)?.- 23 Experimental working group report:What are the major contributions of solid state ionics to technology in the past and future?.- Final remarks W. van Gool.- W. van Gool.