TC215 Geo-Environmental

Call for proposals to host CPEG5

The International Symposium on Coupled Phenomena in Environmental Geotechnics (CPEG) is a quadrennial event organized under the auspices of the Technical Committee TC215 (Environmental Geotechnics) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), with a focus on coupled processes, such as chemical-physical interactions, bio-physical phenomena, multiphase flows, and thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical behaviour.

The first symposium of the series was held in Torino (Italy) in 2013, the second in Leeds (UK) in 2017, and the third virtually in 2021, hosted from Kyoto (Japan). The upcoming fourth symposium is scheduled for September 10th and 11th, 2025, in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

The symposium aims to provide an opportunity for networking and discussion around cutting-edge research in environmental geotechnics. Attendance by young researchers from academia and industry is highly encouraged.

Looking ahead, proposals to host the fifth edition of the symposium, CPEG5, are now being accepted.

The call for proposals will close on October 31, 2025, and is addressed to all TC 215 members.

The proposal should contain the following information:

• Proposed location: city, country
• Proposed dates
• Congress theme
• Hosting organization: local universities, engineering and/or professional chapters, etc.
• Quality of available conference facilities: hotels, restaurants, local transportation, etc.

The venue of the symposium will be selected through a voting procedure involving all nominated members of TC 215 (excluding corresponding members). TC 215 members will vote via email within a 2-week election period.

An online meeting will be conducted to present the proposals and allow for questions from TC members.

If only one proposal is submitted and receives approval from the TC 215 members attending the online meeting, the email voting process will not be conducted.

To submit the proposal, please email it as a single PDF file to the TC 215 Chair, Andrea Dominijanni ([email protected]), and the TC 215 Secretary, Kristin Sample-Lord ([email protected]).

TC 215 Honour Lecture - R. Kerry Rowe Lecture.

In 2012 the ISSMGE and TC 215 established the "R. Kerry Rowe Lecture" in recognition of Professor Rowe's impact in the field of Environmental Geotechnics and excellence in scholarly achievements. The lecture is to be given at the opening plenary session of the International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics (ICEG), and the International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE) held every 4 years. It is also published in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal.

Lecturers:

1st R. Kerry Rowe Lecturer: Prof. Charles D. Shackelford, who delivered his lecture on "The Role of Diffusion in Environmental Geotechnics" at the 18th ICSMGE that was held in Paris, France, September 2013 (paper), and at the 7th ICEG that was held in Melbourne, Australia, November 2014. The Lecture has been published in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal: Shackelford, C.D. (2014). The ISSMGE Kerry Rowe Lecture: The role of diffusion in environmental geotechnics, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 51(11), 1219-1242, 10.1139/cgj-2013-0277.

2nd R. Kerry Rowe Lecturer: Prof. Mario Manassero, who delivered his lecture "On the Fabric and State Parameters of Active Clays for Contaminant Control" at the 19th ICSMGE that was held in Seoul, Korea, September 2017 (paper) and at the 8th ICEG that was held in Hangzhou, China, 28th October - 1st November 2018. The Lecture has been published in open access in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal: Manassero, M. (2020). Second ISSMGE R. Kerry Rowe Lecture: On the intrinsic, state, and fabric parameters of active clays for contaminant control, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 57(3), 1219-1242, 10.1139/cgj-2019-0033. The paper was the recipient of the 2021 R.M. Quigley Award, which is given out each year to the best paper published in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal (CGJ) in the previous year. 

3rd R. Kerry Rowe Lecturer: Prof. Abdelmalek Bouazza, who delivered his lecture "Untangling the mysteries of geosynthetic clay liners behaviour in aggressive and challenging environments" at the 20th ICSMGE that was held in Sydney, Australia, May 2022, and at the 9th ICGE that was held in Chania, Greece, June 2023.

4th R. Kerry Rowe Lecturer: Prof. Krishna R. Reddy, who will deliver his lecture "Bioreactor Landfills: Coupled-Process Modeling, Performance Assessment, and Sustainability Evaluation" (preliminary title) at the 21st ICSMGE that will take place in Vienna, Austria, June 14-19, 2026, and at the 10th ICEG that will be held in Kyoto, Japan, November 1-4, 2027.