Briefing: Expanded scope of geoenvironmental engineering to address broader challenges facing society

Geoenvironmental engineering has evolved considerably over the past several decades from its traditional focus on waste containment, contaminated site remediation, and subsurface environmental protection into a broader, more integrated discipline positioned to address increasingly complex societal and environmental challenges. In response to emerging concerns such as resource depletion, climate change, environmental degradation, rapid urbanisation and associated infrastructure pressures, and infrastructure vulnerability among others, over the past decade, the scope of geoenvironmental engineering has continued to expand into areas including circular materials management, decarbonisation, groundwater management, sustainable ground improvement, renewable energy systems, geo-infrastructure, geosynthetics, and nature-based solutions, among others. Effective development and implementation of such geoenvironmental solutions also require consideration of broader cross-cutting elements, including systems thinking, integration of smart technologies, considerations of resilience and sustainability, development of knowledge infrastructure, and governance and policy frameworks. Equally important is the recognition that developing effective geoenvironmental engineering solutions requires multidisciplinary collaboration. Building on prior perspectives on the evolution of geoenvironmental engineering, this paper reflects on the continued expansion of the field and offers perspectives on how the discipline should be viewed and positioned to address emerging societal and environmental challenges moving forward.