NGI brings leading environmental geotechnics symposium back to a physical format
The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) has been selected to host the 5th International Symposium on Coupled Phenomena in Environmental Geotechnics (CPEG5), to be held in Oslo in June 2029.
If all goes according to plan, NGI's new headquarters, Campus Ullevål in Oslo, will serve as the venue for CPEG5 in 2029. ( Åsmund Holien Mo)
The decision was announced by ISSMGE Technical Committee 215 on Environmental Geotechnics, marking an important milestone for NGI and for the international environmental geotechnics community.
After two successful online editions in 2021 and 2025, CPEG5 will return to an in-person format, bringing together researchers, engineers and industry professionals from around the world to discuss the latest developments in environmental geotechnics.
The symposium continues a tradition established in Turin in 2013 and followed by events in Leeds, Kyoto and Colorado/Wisconsin. CPEG5 will focus on some of the most pressing geo-environmental challenges facing society, including climate adaptation, contaminated land management, sustainable infrastructure, the energy transition, and the use of digital technologies for risk monitoring and early warning.
A meeting place for the global environmental geotechnics community
For NGI, hosting CPEG5 represents an opportunity to strengthen international collaboration and showcase Norwegian research and innovation in environmental geotechnics.
"We are honored that NGI has been entrusted with hosting CPEG5. Environmental geotechnics is becoming increasingly important as societies face more extreme weather events, aging infrastructure and new environmental challenges. Bringing leading experts together in Oslo will create an important arena for knowledge exchange and collaboration," says Thomas Pabst, who has led NGI's effort to secure the symposium.
The overarching theme proposed for CPEG5 is 'Shifting the Paradigm: From Resilience to Robustness', reflecting a growing focus on designing geo-environmental systems that can continue to perform even when conditions exceed original design assumptions.
Proposed sub-themes include:
- Coupled processes under climate extremes
- Robustness of containment infrastructure
- Contaminated land and remediation strategies under constraints
- Nature-based, bio-mediated and low-carbon solutions
- Geotechnics of the energy transition
- Monitoring, early warning and digital tools for real-time risk management
Returning to face-to-face discussions
The symposium will also mark the return of CPEG to a fully physical format after two online editions.
"The digital editions ensured that the CPEG community stayed connected, but there is no substitute for meeting in person. Many of the collaborations, discussions and new ideas that shape our field emerge in conversations between sessions and around the conference venue. We look forward to welcoming colleagues from across the world to Oslo in 2029," says NGI researcher Eivind Wiik Ånes, who has played a central role in the bid and will be involved in organizing the event.
More information about the symposium will be announced as planning progresses.
Thomas Pabst
Head of Section Environmental Geotechnics Environmental geotechnics thomas.pabst@ngi.no+82 010 4430 3047
