The purpose of this workshop is to promote the development and application of spatial, temporal, and mainly spatio-temporal statistical methods to different fields related to the environment. The general aim is to bring together practitioners and researchers of different areas and countries all over the world. Cross-disciplinary actions to solve environmental problems are very welcome. The scientific programme is characterized by having special invited sessions covering topics on the latest in theory, methods, and applications, as well as contributed papers and posters.

This international workshop is the eigth on the topic of Spatio-Temporal Modelling which is being held every two years since the last fifteen years. The previous conferences were organized in:

(a) Benicàssim (Castellon, Spain), October 2001;

(b) Granada (Spain), June 2004;

(c) Pamplona (Spain), September 2006;

(d) Alghero (Italy), 2008;

(e) Santiago de Compostela (Spain), 2010;

(f) Guimaraes (Portugal), September 2012;

(g) Turin (Italy), September 2014.

Both the workshop participation and the scientific quality of the contributions have grown substantially since the first one. The present edition (METMA VIII) travels back to Spain, to one of the nicest mediterranean cities, Valencia.

As for the previous editions, a special issue of Spatial Statistics will be edited for the conference papers, following the usual reviewing procedure.

The conference is sponsored by the Spanish Statistical and Operations Research Society (SEIO), Generalitat Valenciana, Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, and University of Valencia.

We are looking forward to seeing you here, enjoying the conference and the city!

The Organizing Committee