For the technical program of the ESCAPE-12 symposium, six themes have been identified. These themes not only cover the traditional core activities of CAPE, but deliberately take some wider conceptual perspectives into consideration:

• the increasing interplay between product and process design arising from the often complex internal structures of modern products;
• the integration of production chains creating the network structure of the process industry;
• the optimisation over life span dimensions,
• taking sustainability as the ultimate driver.

Some themes will be a joint effort with other EFCE working parties.