  Refinement is one of the cornerstones of a formal approach to software
engineering: the process of developing a more detailed design or implementation
from an abstract specification through a sequence of mathematically-based steps
that maintain correctness with respect to the original specification.
  The aim of this BCS FACS Refinement Workshop, is to bring together people who
are interested in the development of more concrete designs or executable
programs from abstract specifications using formal notations, tool support for
formal software development, and practical experience with formal refinement
methodologies.
  The purpose of the workshop is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas,
and discussion of common ground and key differences.
  This 15th workshop continued a 20 year tradition in refinement workshops run
under the auspices of the British Computer Society (BCS) FACS special interest
group. After the first seven editions had been held in the UK, in 1998 it was
combined with the Australasian Refinement Workshop to form the International
Refinement Workshop, hosted at The Australian National University. Six more
editions have followed in a variety of locations, all with electronic published
proceedings and associated journal special issues.
