The International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE) was established at the First International Symposium on Traditional Dwellings and Settlements held at Berkeley in April 1988 to act as an interdisciplinary forum where scholars from various disciplines and countries can exchange ideas, discuss methods and approaches, and share findings. In contrast to disciplinary societies concerned with the advancement of particular disciplines, IASTE is more interested in the comparative, cross-cultural, and inter-disciplinary understanding of traditional dwellings and settlements as an expression of cultural conventions.