KATHMANDU, Nov 30: The 15th Asian Regional Conference of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (ARC-15 of IAEG) concluded on Saturday in Kathmandu, drawing 360 participants from more than 20 countries.
The three-day event was organized by the Nepal Society of Engineering Geologists (NSEG) and the IAEG Bangladesh National Group (IBNG) under the theme “Geological Engineering for Societal and Sustainable Development.”
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The conference featured 217 scientific presentations, including 190 oral talks and 27 poster sessions, addressing landslides, seismic hazards, underground construction, climate-induced risks, geotechnical engineering, and sustainable infrastructure development. Globally recognized experts delivered high-impact lectures, with topics ranging from modern tunneling and deep-seated landslides to climate-change impacts on infrastructure and real-time monitoring of unstable glaciers.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Dr. Ranjan Kumar Dahal, conference convener and Vice-President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, emphasized that Nepal must integrate geological expertise into all major development projects. “Ignoring geology before commencing engineering work will impose severe costs in the near future,” he warned. “Nepal’s fragile geological landscape demands that engineering geologists play a central role in planning and construction.”
ARC-15 included technical workshops, training programs, a Women-in-Engineering Geology outdoor session, and field visits across Kathmandu Valley, with post-conference excursions to Pokhara and Eastern Nepal ongoing until 2 December 2025.
During the conference globally recognized experts shared insights, including Prof. Vassilis P. Marinos (IAEG President) on modern tunneling, Prof. Shuichi Hasegawa (Japan) on hydrothermally weakened landslides, Dr. Ann Williams (UK) on climate change challenges, Prof. Christian Zangerl (Austria) on deep-seated rock slides, Dr. Daniele Giordan (Italy) on glacier monitoring, Prof. Keh-Jian Shou (Taiwan) on post-earthquake hazards, Er. Anil Pokhrel (Nepal) on disaster risk reduction, and Dr. Scott A. Anderson (USA) on geohazard remote sensing. Invited speakers included Prof. Tetsuya Sakai (Japan), Dr. Shahab Yasrebi (Iran/Qatar), Prof. Jia-Jyun Dong (Taiwan), Prof. Atsuko Nonomura (Japan), Dr. Mike Winter (UK), Prof. Yun-Tae Kim (Korea), and Dr. Ko-Fei Liu (Taiwan).
