Combinatorial optimization issues in scheduling

This special issue of the Journal of Scheduling is devoted to the ECCO XXI Conference, the 21st Annual Meeting of the European Chapter on Combinatorial Optimization, which was held at the facilities of the University of Dubrovnik (Croatia) from May 29 to May 31, 2008. In 1991 ECCO had planned to have its annual meeting in Dubrovnik, but the event had to be canceled due to the unstable political situation in Croatia at that time. ECCO, the Working Group of the European Chapter on Combinatorial Optimization, was created in 1987 by Catherine Roucairol, Dominique de Werra, and Alexander Rinnooy Kan. Through the years, the group has provided an opportunity to discuss novelties in important areas of combinatorial optimization. The group, which has more than 1,000 members, is open to everybody interested in the field, either