Welcome to the 20^th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2022

Message from the Chairs of ICSMGE 2022

On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE 2022), the Technical Committee and the host Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS), we are delighted to welcome you all to ICSMGE 2022, to be held in Sydney, Australia, from May 1 to 6, 2022.

It is important to recognise that our Conference has had to be rescheduled from September 2021 to May 2022 because of the Covid19 pandemic. This decision to reschedule the Conference was taken after discussion and with the approval of the ISSMGE Board. We would like to thank the Board Members for their wisdom and understanding in these difficult circumstances. Rescheduling was necessary because the LOC and the Board were very keen to maintain a conventional face-to-face conference.

Our LOC is well aware that potential attendees will be very keen to travel to a safe destination. Please be assured that Australia is and will remain a safe destination, with one of the best records for managing the pandemic and limiting its spread through its public health policies. With much of the world, including Australia, in the midst of rolling out Covid19 vaccines, we fully expect that borders should open and international travel should resume well before the rescheduled Conference dates.

The theme of ICSMGE 2022 is “A Geotechnical Discovery Down Under – Geotechnical Diversity Awaits You”. Discover Australia and discover the innovation that lies where practical problems meet leading theoretical developments. ICSMGE 2022 will focus on the application of theory and the discovery that comes when world-class minds are focussed on the geotechnical problems facing our world. Our Conference program and technical sessions reflect this emphasis on applications, and are designed to trigger collaboration, innovation and discovery from a diverse group of participants.

Australia is a unique land and a diverse country in every way imaginable – in culture, population, climate, geography and history. The identity of all Australians, but especially our Indigenous Australians, is shaped by our relationship with the natural environment. Sydney, as host city, has much to offer the tourist, with a diverse range of attractions. It is a multi-cultural city, and its people are warm and friendly and very happy to greet you with a welcoming “G’Day!”

The Australian Geomechanics Society, the host society for ICSMGE 2022, truly embodies the diversity of our profession, welcoming geologists, engineering geologists, soil mechanics, rock mechanics and geotechnical engineers – practitioners and academics alike, who come together to help advance the profession in Australia and beyond.

ICSMGE 2022, Sydney, is an opportunity for delegates to make that once in a lifetime trip Down Under and discover why there’s nothing and nowhere quite like Australia.

We look forward to welcoming you, one and all, to our beautiful and safe city of Sydney in May 2022.