AGS Annual Conference 2024

25th Apr 2024

One Great George Street, London [ View on map ]

Registration for this event has now closed.

The AGS Annual Conference 2024 will be taking place on Thursday 25th April at One Great George Street in Westminster, London.

Chaired by Vivien Dent, this full day, CPD event will feature seven expert speakers from across the geotechnical and geoenvironmental sector, each presenting on a topic with an overarching theme of sustainability. We’re pleased to announce that our speakers for 2024 are Mark Hill (The Pension Regulator), Jim Webster (Earthworks Materials Solutions), Tim Rolfe (Yes Environmental), Alan Thomas (ERM), Roseanna Bloxham (RSK Environment), Ebenezer Adenmosun (Geofirma and Co-Founder of the Ground Forum Mentoring Scheme), Marla Gillow (Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Ramboll) and Kalisha Sejpar (Associate at Ramboll).

The conference will also include short reports from each of the AGS Working Group Leaders which will summarise their aims and accomplishments over the past 12 months. The day will conclude with a networking drink’s reception in the Great Hall – a first for the Annual Conference.

VIEW THE FULL PROGRAME HERE.

EARLY CAREERS PROFESSIONALS SUSTAINABILITY POSTER COMPETITION

The AGS is holding a sustainability-themed poster competition at this year’s Annual Conference, and we’d like to see how Early Career Professionals are applying sustainable practices in the workplace.

Whether it’s applying SuRF UK’s sustainable management practices, showing how BS18504 can be applied, using mobile data capture, using ethically sourced PPE, we’d like to see your ideas and practices for how you’re improving sustainability.

The winner will receive a Selfridges hamper worth £85, free entry to this year’s Annual Conference on 25^th April in London, plus have their poster printed in AGS Magazine which reaches over 6,000 industry professionals 6 times a year. For full details click HERE.

PROJECTS FOR NATURE PARTNERSHIP

The AGS is proud to announce that they will be donating a percentage of profits generated from the Annual Conference to Projects for Nature, an initiative which aims to restore nature recovery in the UK.

Projects for Nature believe that, as collective, we need to turn a corner towards protecting and restoring nature by recognising its value and supporting its path to recovery. They bring together a unique collaboration of businesses, eNGOs, expert environmental bodies and government to bring Projects for Nature to life and accelerate urgently needed nature recovery.

For further information on Projects for Nature visit https://www.projectsfornature.com/

TICKETS

AGS Member companies are entitled to a limited number of complimentary tickets, as part of their membership subscription. To register for your free places, download the registration form and return it completed to ags@ags.org.uk before 15th April.

Additional tickets are priced at £110 for AGS Members, and £180 for Non-Members (ex VAT). In order to obtain the AGS Member rate, please add the delegate place to your basket, select ‘proceed to checkout’, enter delegate details and under ‘billing details’, select your company from the AGS member company dropdown list. The rate at the end of the checkout page will then update to the AGS member rate.

Please note that students and retired Members may attend the event for £25 (ex VAT). To secure a ticket at this rate, please email ags@ags.org.uk.

Registration strictly closes on Monday 15th April.

PRESENTATIONS

Sustainable Earthworks Practice on Major Civil Engineering Projects

Jim Webster, Director at Earthworks and Materials Solutions

The presentation will discuss what does sustainability mean in terms of earthworks. It will discuss the environmental and commercial aspects of sustainability. Examples will be drawn from major UK Civil Engineering Projects including HS2. This will cover:
-Cost and timing of ground investigations
-Earthworks specifications; ensuring specifications take in to account materials available on site or available locally
-Materials reuse and maximising re use of on site materials, including re use of made ground materials and DoWCoP
-Sustainable geotechnical design
-Stabilisation and modification
-Alternative solutions to specifying the use of granular materials
-Earthworks plant and developments in telematics

The Role of Quantitative Risk Assessment in Reducing Soil Disposal and Importation at Contaminated Sites

Tim Rolfe, Director at YES Environmental

Tim will look at the value of Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) in supporting the sustainable development of sites by avoiding unnecessary remediation, or providing a robust basis for remediation where required. The presentation will cover the actual and perceived barriers to use of QRA and provide practical tips for incorporating QRA into projects.

NHBC NF93 Building Foundation Solutions: Future-proofing Against Climate Change

Roseanna Bloxham, Principal Geo-Environmental Engineer at RSK Environment

In this presentation, we explore recent NHBC Foundation research and guidance for the housing sector. The focus is on the NF93 report, which looks at the climate change risks impacting building foundations in new housing. Strategies for effective mitigation are discussed, alongside how embodied carbon can be factored into foundation design decisions to support achieving net zero. By integrating sustainability principles into our designs, we can pave the way for a more resilient and eco-conscious built environment.

Sustainable Finance, Pensions and Climate Disclosures

Mark Hill, Climate and Sustainability Lead at The Pensions Regulator

Climate change represents a systemic within the context of the global financial system. It poses physical. transitional and legal risks to investors including pension funds. Sustainable finance seeks to address this by providing a framework for considering financially material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors as part of investment decisions.

In the UK, the Government is progressively introducing the requirement for qualifying organisations including pensions to adopt the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations. This means that they are required by law to publish an annual TCFD disclosure report setting out their Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, Metrics and Targets related to climate change. The aim being to provide a framework for and means to promote the consideration and management of material climate-related financial risks and opportunities across the economy and financial system. As such this will have a direct bearing on future investment decisions and existing investments.

There is a recognition that the finance, energy, transportation, construction, food and forestry sectors are likely to be more susceptible to the impacts of climate change.

It doesn’t end there. The Government has committed to introducing an integrated sustainable Disclosures Requirement (SDR) that brings together material financial climate, nature and social factors related risks and opportunities. A requirement that will be supported by forward looking Climate Transition Plans.

So what are the implications for AGS members? Mark will talk through how TCFD and SDR could impact the brownfield and infrastructure sectors from a pensions perspective.

GFUMP – Making a big difference in the Ground Engineering Industry

Ebenezer Adenmosun, Director at Geofirma and Co-Founder of the Ground Forum Undergraduate Mentoring Scheme

The Ground Forum Undergraduate Mentoring Scheme (GFUMP) as started in 2021, with its main aim being to address the lack of diversity within our industry by attracting graduates in the geology, civil engineering and earth sciences who might not normally consider a career in ground engineering due to how the industry is perceived by the outside world. The aim of this presentation is to explain how the scheme has progressed over the last three years highlighting the positive impact it has made on the industry and individuals, and explain the plans we have for the future of the scheme.

Case Study: Measuring Carbon From Design to Construction at 2 Finsbury Avenue

Marla Gillow, Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Ramboll and Kalisha Sejpar, Associate at Ramboll

This Ramboll flagship project is a new build 40-storey mixed-use development with a three-storey basement located in central London. Ramboll were involved throughout the geotechnical design phase and also had a Resident Engineer on site for the duration of the piling works. We have developed a carbon calculator to compare Ramboll’s pile design at RIBA Stages 2, 3 & 4, to the Contractor’s pile design, and the actual carbon spend during the piling works, with the ability to monitor this in real-time as the works were carried out. We have broken this carbon spend down into A1 to A5 for comparison between stages and learnt key lessons for consideration in future projects, which will be shared.

Insights from the Sustainable Remediation of an Agrochemical Manufacturing Facility

Alan Thomas, Technical Partner at ERM

Embedding sustainability principles into the management of land contamination is known as “sustainable remediation” but its application is not restricted to the remedial options appraisal stage alone. This case study will describe the practice of incorporating sustainable remediation into the process of site closure and remediation of a former agrochemical manufacturing facility in the UK. The approach to embedding sustainability will be described at each stage of the project life cycle from site investigation through to the implementation of on-site bioremediation that was implemented as the preferred methodology.

Speakers

Vivien Dent, Event Chair
AGS Chair and Technical Specialist: Green Growth and Delivery at the Environment Agency

Vivien is a hydrogeologist with over 25 years’ experience working in contaminated land, specialising in groundwater risk assessment. She recently moved to the Environment Agency where she works on major projects in the Hertfordshire and North London areas. Vivien is the current Chair of the Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists.

Mark Hill
Climate and Sustainability Lead at The Pensions Regulator (TPR)

Mark is responsible for developing the regulatory response to climate change and sustainability disclosure requirements and delivering TPR’s Climate Change Strategy. He is actively involved in work across government and the sector, from the Climate Financial Risk Forum to the Transition Plan Taskforce in support of sustainable finance and better outcomes for savers.

Tim Rolfe
Director at YES Environmental

Tim is an independent risk assessor and has worked on land quality issues for over 20 years. Tim sits on the AGS Contaminated Land Working Group, representing the Society of Brownfield Risk Assessment (SoBRA). He is a SoBRA accredited risk assessor (A.SoBRA) for Human Health, Controlled Waters and Vapour Intrusion.

Jim Webster
Director at Earthworks and Materials Solutions

Jim has over 35 years UK and international experience in materials and geotechnical engineering. He’s held senior positions as Chief Materials Engineer, with major UK contractors and specialist geotechnical consultancy. Having set up his own consultancy in 2020, he has a strong track record in delivering cost effective sustainable solutions including; earthworks re-use strategies, materials engineering, aggregate processing strategies, geotechnical design, pavement and pavement foundation design and lime / cement stabilisation. Jim also has extensive experience of major earthworks on major infrastructure projects.

Ebenezer Adenmosun
Director at Geofirma and Co-Founder of the Ground Forum Undergraduate Mentoring Scheme

Ebenezer the managing director of Geofirma, and has 30 years’ experience in managing the geotechnical design process of complex and demanding schemes. He is an experienced chartered geotechnical engineer and registered ground engineering (RoGEP) adviser.

Ebenezer is very passionate about diversity and inclusion in general, and in our industry. He is one of the co-founders of the innovative Ground Forum Undergraduate mentoring scheme, is a Ground Forum committee member, a RoGEP panel committee member and an active mentor.

Roseanna Bloxham
Principal Geo-Environmental Engineer at RSK Environment

Roseanna Bloxham is a chartered Principal Geoenvironmental Engineer and team leader within RSK Geosciences. She has over 10 years’ experience and provides geotechnical and land contamination advice and services on a wide range of projects.

Marla Gillow
Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Ramboll

Marla is a chartered geotechnical design engineer with experience in a variety of infrastructure and buildings projects. She has led the implementation of sustainability best practise into geotechnical design at Ramboll and is a member of the AGS Sustainability Working Group and Chair for the upcoming EFFC-DFI Climate Adaptation Guide.

Dr Alan Thomas
Technical Partner at ERM

Alan is a Technical Partner within ERM with over 30 years’ experience in the management and remediation of contaminated sites in UK and Internationally. Alan has led in developing ERM’s capabilities in sustainable remediation and is co-Chair of the SuRF UK steering group.

Kalisha Sejpar CEng MICE
Associate at Ramboll

Kalisha is a chartered Associate at Ramboll with over 10 years’ experience managing and delivering geotechnical solutions for multidisciplinary developments across complex and constrained sites. She has a strong track record of delivering technical excellence with a sustainable design approach. She is also an advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion and has a leading role in advancing the race agenda at Ramboll as well as shaping the company’s Social Value capabilities.

Association of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Specialists