Second plenary conference of the tensions of Europe Network : Lappeenranta, Finland, 24-28 may 2006

The package unexpectedly arrived on a sunny day in July. Judging from its size and shape, I wondered whether it was a CD I had ordered and forgotten about. Then I saw "South Karelian Institute" on the address label, and with a big smile on my face I opened the package. In it was a CD-ROM with a short film that brought back pleasant memories of Lappeenranta. This tranquil, provincial town on beautiful Lake Saimaa in Finland served as the venue of the Second Plenary Conference of the Tensions of Europe Network, which I attended back in May. This unusual gesture of distributing a souvenir CD reflects the enthusiasm with which local organizer Karl-Erik Michelsen and his team from the South Karelian Institute of the Lappeenranta University of Technology, assisted by Donna Mehos of the Foundation for the History of Technology, put together this event on "Technology and the Rethinking of European Borders."