Sustainable Geoenvironmental Engineering Practices for Combating Extreme Weather and Climate Events

Submit your abstract here by 4 September 2025

Introduction

Extreme weather and climate events—including sudden phenomena such as tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, and flash floods, as well as prolonged anomalies like droughts and record-breaking seasonal temperatures—pose unprecedented challenges to geotechnical and geoenvironmental systems worldwide. These events can accelerate sea level rise, drive seawater intrusion, intensify soil erosion, trigger slope failures, compromise engineered containment barriers, and alter subsurface contaminant transport. As their frequency and severity continue to rise, there is an urgent need for innovative and sustainable engineering solutions that not only enhance the resilience of geo-infrastructure and environmental systems but also enable proactive risk management and disaster mitigation.

This upcoming themed issue in Environmental Geotechnics is dedicated to showcasing the latest advancements in sustainable geoenvironmental engineering for mitigating the impacts of extreme weather and climate events. Interdisciplinary research spanning geotechnical, geological, environmental, bio-, chemical, materials, and computer engineering plays an increasingly vital role in addressing climate challenges and geoenvironmental issues. We welcome contributions that present novel theoretical frameworks, methodologies, materials, and technologies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches to mitigate the adverse effects of extreme weather and climate events on geotechnical and geoenvironmental systems.

Distinct from previous themed issues on climate change, this issue focuses on the direct impact of extreme weather and climate events on traditional geotechnical infrastructure, environmental containment systems, and remediation systems. By emphasizing sustainable materials—particularly nature-based materials, biopolymers, and solid waste reuse—along with advanced monitoring, early warning systems, and innovative risk prediction techniques integrating big data and artificial intelligence, this issue aims to open new avenues for climate adaptation strategies. Ultimately, the themed issue will contribute to reduce the disaster risk, improve the environmental containment designs, and enhance the long-term stability of geotechnical and geoenvironmental systems, in the face of escalating climate challenges.

List of topic areas

We invite original research papers, review articles, case studies and policy analyses that address the following topics (but are not limited to) relevant to Geoenvironmental Engineering:

• Climate-Induced Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Risks: Investigating the impacts of extreme weather and climate events, such as sea level rise, tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, and prolonged droughts, on soil erosion, grounds, road bases, foundations, slopes, waste management, environmental containment systems, and remediation systems, as well as their influence on contaminant migration in various environmental ecosystems.
• Sustainable Nature-Based and Engineering Solutions for Climate Adaptation: Developing sustainable practices to improve the resilience of geo-infrastructures and environmental systems under extreme weather and climate event, including bio-inspired and bio-mediated solutions, biopolymer, solid waste reuse, drainage, eco-engineered erosion and shallow landslide control and mitigation, and resilience-oriented design strategies.
• Advanced Monitoring and Early Warning Systems: Utilizing real-time sensor networks (e.g., fiber optic networks, piezoelectric systems, and other self-sensing technologies) alongside remote sensing technologies to continuously monitor and assess the impacts of extreme weather and climate events on geo-infrastructures and environmental systems, facilitating immediate risk response and proactive risk management.
• Data-Driven Risk Assessment and Prediction, and Adaptation Planning: Utilizing advanced computational tools, including machine learning, deep learning, climate-integrated numerical simulations, and geospatial analytics, enhance geohazard prediction, improve risk assessment, and inform proactive climate adaptation strategies for development projects and broader regional planning.

Submission information

Submit your abstract here

Author guidelines must be strictly followed

If your abstract is successful, you will be invited to submit your full paper here: https://ice-review.rivervalley.io/journal/jenge. Once you have registered, navigate to the journal that you wish to submit to. Choose article type "Themed Issue" and then the specific name from the drop-down menu on screen.