Climate scientists and energy leaders often operate on different decision timelines, priorities, and success metrics. Yet every energy decision is essentially a climate decision, and the two fields are deeply interdependent. As policy conditions shift, global energy demand continues to grow, and climate risks intensify, closer collaboration between these communities is increasingly important. Ensuring reliable and equitable access to energy while strengthening climate resilience and reducing climate risks requires approaches that recognize the interconnected challenges of energy, climate, and society.
This session aims to bridge these two communities by fostering mutual understanding, identifying shared challenges and opportunities, and creating pathways for deeper collaboration across science, industry, and policy. To advance this goal, we will bring together leading voices from academia, industry, and policy across Europe and the United States to discuss core challenges, identify mutually beneficial solutions, and define priorities for closer cooperation between the climate and energy communities. We aim to convene senior leaders from these communities for keynote presentations, followed by an open discussion engaging the broader EGU community. By connecting diverse perspectives and experiences, the session aims to foster constructive dialogue, spark new collaborations, and identify opportunities to advance a more resilient and sustainable future.

This general session of the Energy, Resources and the Environment (ERE) division provides an overview of its multi- and interdisciplinarity, which is essential to tackle challenges of the future. Beside others, this is to provide adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other (geo-)resources, obtained in environmentally sustainable ways, which is the basis for economic prosperity, environmental quality and political stability. This session also features contributions of general interest within the ERE community, which are not covered by other ERE sessions. Aim of this session is to provide an overview of topics within the ERE domain, in particular for colleagues affiliated mainly with other divisions, who are interested in topics within ERE.

The purpose of this session is to present recent advances in the analysis of environmental contamination using Applied Geophysics, Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence approaches.
Characterizing and understanding the surface and subsurface is a challenge for many scientific areas.
The risk assessment of a contaminated site, using traditional procedures, implies soil and water sampling to proceed to chemical analysis to quantify potentially toxic metals. This is very expensive and time-consuming task.
Remote sensing methods can be applied as preceding steps of the traditional approaches to define places to create classification maps, to know where the most contaminated sites are.
Applied Geophysics investigates underground using a variety of non-invasive and non-destructive techniques such as ground-penetrating radar, magnetics, electrical resistivity tomography, electromagnetic induction, and seismics. Remote Sensing uses methods such as photogrammetry, LIDAR, GNSS, and satellite hyperspectral data to determine physical properties at a distance. Some Remote Sensing technologies can also give information from the subsurface or the interior of structures. Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to manage information using as inputs data provided by different methods that can help in the calculation of contamination maps.
Knowledge in these fields can be applied to a variety of research topics, combining all-together results of several fields like the mentioned above, using Artificial Intelligence. This can enable the development of integrated tools for optimized environmental management, enabling the automated identification of risk areas and promoting the reduction of sampling and operational costs, as well as reducing assessment times in the management of contaminated areas.
This approach has great potential to be replicated in other environmental contamination problems, such as those produced by industrial waste, landfills, as well as intensive agriculture.
This session will collect the contributions from Applied Geophysics, Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence in the following topics:
- Environmental studies: characterization of the soil and water contamination by potentially toxic metals in mining places, industrial waste, landfills and intensive agriculture.
- Innovations in data acquisition, processing approaches, and big data management of Geophysical, Remote Sensing and AI methods.

A wide range of geo-electromagnetic methods, including natural source magnetotelluric, time-domain, and frequency-domain controlled source EM, as well as DC resistivity and induced polarization are uniquely sensitive to the earth’s electrical properties and are capable of probing from shallow depths near the surface to even hundreds of kilometers into the Earth's crust. They are invaluable for revealing subsurface structures, fluid distributions, mineral resources, tectonic features, and even engineered infrastructure. Traditionally essential in resource exploration, geo-electromagnetic methods are now becoming increasingly relevant in addressing new global challenges related to energy systems, the impacts of climate change, environmental problems, and urban development and resilience.

This session serves as an annual platform for showcasing the latest advancements in geo-electromagnetic research. We encourage contributions from a broad range of topics, including methodological breakthroughs, novel field observations, theoretical advancements, and case studies. This year, we particularly welcome submissions that highlight innovative uses of geo-electromagnetic methods in emerging areas—whether through state-of-the-art instrumentation, unconventional applications, or studies with significant societal or environmental relevance.

Energy system modelling and integrated assessment approaches are essential tools for understanding and optimising the complex interactions within modern energy systems. By simulating these interactions, stakeholders can make informed decisions that improve energy security, support economic viability, social prosperity, and minimise environmental impact.

This session will explore the role of energy system modelling and integrated assessment in advancing sustainable energy transitions, with a particular focus on the impacts of system retrofitting and integrating renewable sources such as solar, hydrogen, wind, hydroelectric power, and geothermal energy.

We will examine renewable energy, small-scale RETs, and hydrogen's growing importance in achieving net-zero emissions, exploring its potential in energy storage, transportation, and industrial applications, and advanced grid management systems. In addition, the session will address the social and environmental effects, trade-offs, and co-benefits of renewable energy systems, particularly their impact on communities, job creation, land use and related ecological consequences.

Thereby, looking at strategies for sustainable planning and management that enhance the environmental and social co-benefits of the renewable energy transition, such as improving community resilience and job creation, as well as ecosystem service enhancement and the mitigation of land use conflicts.

This session aims to bring together researchers from diverse fields to discuss how these models and tools can improve decision-making, enable informed policy development, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and advance broader sustainability goals.

The European Green Deal sets an ambitious vision for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, requiring a fundamental transformation of energy systems and the phasing out of fossil fuels. As part of this transition, coal-dependent regions face profound industrial, economic, and social challenges. This session focuses on the scientific, technological, and socio-economic research needed to support the just transition of coal and lignite regions, ensuring environmental restoration, economic revitalization, and social equity.

Relevant topics include but are not limited to:
• Adaptive reuse of coal mines and related infrastructure (e.g., power plants, shafts, rail networks) for energy storage, district heating, or industrial parks.
• Environmental restoration of post-mining landscapes, including water table protection, mine drainage treatment, and biodiversity recovery.
• Ground stability monitoring and subsidence risk management in former mining areas.
• Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane, from abandoned and closing coal mines.
• Innovative development of advanced materials from mining waste and tailings, emphasizing their applications in construction, energy storage, and environmental remediation.
• Valorization of mining waste, fly ash, and desulphurization residues for non-energetic uses and raw material recovery, with minimized environmental and health impacts.
• Development and testing of carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies in former coal regions.
• Exploration and implementation of geothermal energy systems on repurposed coal mine sites.
• Health-focused research on mining-related diseases and protective measures during mine closure and post-operational phases.
• Strategies for reskilling and upskilling coal workers, including research on effective training programs and labor market integration into emerging green sectors.

Mining is essential for providing the raw materials needed for infrastructure, industrial development, renewable energy technologies, and the global shift to a low carbon economy. However, the environmental impacts of mining often remain long after mines are closed, making post mining pollution one of the biggest sustainable development challenges worldwide. Abandoned and inactive mines can still release harmful pollutants through acid mine drainage, tailings leaks, waste rock weathering, and the spread of contaminated dust, causing long term damage to land and aquatic ecosystems. Addressing these persistent environmental issues requires integrated scientific, technological, economic, and policy driven solutions.
One of the main focuses of this session is the various global challenges caused by post-mining Issues. Mine safety is still a key issue, since unstable tailings, abandoned underground mines, waste piles, ground subsidence, slope failures, and other geological hazards can all pose threats to workers and nearby communities. Environmental challenges include acid mine drainage, heavy metal pollution, persistent organic pollutants, airborne particulate matter, contamination of groundwater and surface water, soil degradation, and the movement of pollutants through different parts of the environment. We strongly encourage research on pollution sources, migration mechanisms, environmental fate, monitoring technologies, and risk assessments.
Besides the challenges, this session also highlights opportunities to develop innovative technologies and sustainable management strategies to turn post mining land into highly productive and resilient environments.
This session is aimed at giving researchers, engineers, environmental scientists, public health experts, economists, policymakers, and industry folks a cross-disciplinary platform to share knowledge and showcase innovative research on post-mining challenges and opportunities. We welcome contributions from all areas of mining, including coal, metal, rare earth elements, industrial minerals, and abandoned mine sites.

We invite contributions on all aspects of Meteorology and Climate for Renewable Energy (RE):
• Energy: wind, solar, hydro, tidal, wave, geothermal etc
• Spatial: microscale, mesoscale, synoptic and global
• Temporal: seconds, minutes, diurnal, seasonal, interannual, decadal and climatological
• Approach: measurement, modeling
The success of wind power has pushed turbines and research need into increasingly complex environments — mountainous terrain, forested areas, high in boundary layer and offshore. For solar power, new installation sites such as floating PV both rivers, water reservoirs for artificial snow, and “alpine PV farms” are gaining more attention. We need accurate measurements and short-term forecasts of cloud fields and aerosol effects. For weather-dependent renewables, the challenge of integrating shares into the power grid requires advances in understanding forecast uncertainty and spatio-temporal variability. Furthermore, meteorological conditions define how much power can be sent through the power grid and could help prevent curtailment or negative energy pricing.
Specifically, we invite contributions including but not limited to:
• Measurement techniques and analysis for e.g., wind, solar, hydro, and marine resources.
• Wind conditions (resource, extremes, turbulence) on all scales in complex environments (mountains, forests, coastal, offshore, urban).
• Wake effect models and measurements
• Forecast performance and uncertainty of RE at different time horizons
• Forecasts and detection of extreme and adverse weather events (wind ramps, droughts, heatwaves, storms, compound and consecutive)
• Detection and forecasting of dynamic line rating suitable conditions
• RE resource and atlas development (wind, solar, hydro, wave, thermal)
• Hydro-meteorological analyses of inflow variability, snowpack, precipitation extremes, and their implications for hydropower
• Tidal and wave resource assessment and predictability
• Impacts of renewable power plants or their large-scale integration on local, regional, and global scales
• Tools for strategic planning of RE in urban areas and smart energy systems.
• Climate Change Impact studies for renewables and weather-driven energy demand
• Interannual to decadal variability of renewable resources
• Typical Meteorological Years and probability of exceedance metrics
• AI and Machine Learning for weather and climate forecasting and applications to RE

This session addresses spatial and temporal modelling of renewable and climate neutral energy systems, both in a prospective as well as in a retrospective manner. Therefore, contributions which model the characteristics of future systems are equally welcome as contributions assessing the characteristics of their past performance. Session contributions may range from assessments of climate data based simulations of renewable generation, over assessments of land use implications of renewables, to economic assessments linked to spatial and temporal variability of renewables and full energy system model studies applied to understand climate neutral energy systems.

Studies may for instance:
Show the spatial and temporal variability of renewable energy sources, including resource droughts and complementarity between technologies and locations.
Assess the resilience of energy systems to weather and climate extreme events, with a focus on infrastructure and resource adequacy, and analyze economic incentives to ensure reliable energy systems under current regulatory, market and tariff conditions.
Derive scenarios for the spatial allocation of renewable energies based on climatic, technical, economic, or social criteria.
Assess past spatial deployment patterns of renewables.
Assess past impacts on land cover and land-use, including impacts on biodiversity and other environmental indicators
Explore and quantify impacts of wind and solar power deployment on the social and natural environment in a spatially explicit way, including economic valuations of such impacts
Derive integrated scenarios of climate neutral energy systems (Including systems from the local scale, e.g. in form of local Energy Communities, to the national or continental scale).
Explore the flow of energy and carbon between energy-, and land- systems in climate neutrality scenarios

The objective of the session is to provide an insight into recent advances in the field of renewable energy system modeling. The session welcomes research dedicated to climatic and technical issues, assessments of environmental impacts, economic analysis of markets, policies and regulations, and forecasting applications , concerning renewable energy systems.

The global transition towards “Net zero” requires rapid decarbonisation across multiple sectors, with the electricity system playing a key role. On the supply side, renewable energy resources exhibit variability across multiple timescales, from minutes to seasons to interannual. Climate change is expected to alter not only the mean patterns of renewable resources but also their variability and the possibility of disruptive, compound, and cascading extreme events. On the demand side, extreme weather events and climate change will affect both overall consumption and peak load. Unmanaged demand growth can raise mitigation costs, intensify pressure on renewable resources, create supply reliability and affordability challenges. Considerable uncertainty remains in projecting long-term spatio-temporal changes in renewable sources, demand and low probability extremes that can disrupt the energy system. There is an urgent need for deeper dialogue between climate science, climate risk, and energy systems research communities.
This session invites contributions on pathways to accelerate energy transitions under climate change; approaches to just and equitable transitions; insights from climate modelling for demand or supply challenges; approaches for balancing supply with demand and flexibility across timescales; innovative concepts to address uncertainty in energy-climate interactions; implications of climate risks for the energy transition. We encourage model-based, empirical, and conceptual studies, including:
*Impacts of climate change and variability, including extremes, on energy systems, and associated uncertainties
*Effects of renewable resource variability on energy systems, and technical approaches, including storage and interconnection, to balance supply and demand
*Climate-related drivers of energy demand, and the role of demand reduction and management in low-carbon transitions
*Influences of extreme events and spatio-temporal complementarities on both demand and supply within energy systems
*Integrated assessments combining supply and demand side approaches to low-carbon transitions
*Spatio-temporal data needs from climate modelling to advance understanding of renewable supply and demand under climate change
*Implications of climate change and extreme events for energy system reliability and security of supply, including outage risk and electricity price impacts
*Risk-modelling frameworks for quantifying climate-related risks to the energy system

Geothermal energy emerges as a critical component of the urban energy transition, offering constant base-load energy supply, minimal land requirement, and integration into multicomponent energy networks. This session explores the scientific, engineering, and strategic foundations necessary to unlock the potential of geothermal energy in urban settings.

We invite contributions across the spectrum of geothermal technologies: hydrothermal, petrothermal, closed-loop, enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), and aquifer or borehole thermal energy storage (ATES/BTES). Reliable forecasting and sustainable geothermal utilization require solid understanding of the subsurface structure and physical properties. Integrated exploration strategies–seismic, geological, and geophysical investigations–combined with consistent monitoring during operation are vital for optimal reservoir management and for minimizing environmental impacts.

The session further addresses the complex interaction between reservoir heterogeneity, imposed perturbations by operation, and impact on governing physical processes. These coupled mechanisms may cause stress redistribution or rock deformation and–in faulted/fractured reservoirs or EGS projects–enhance the seismic risk. Understanding the coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) response of geothermal systems is thus crucial for predictive analyses, sustainable operation, and risk mitigation. Contributions on predicting and mitigating induced seismicity, including risk management approaches such as traffic light systems, are especially encouraged.

We welcome diverse methodological approaches: analytical studies, laboratory and field experiments, multiphysics numerical modeling, and data-driven or machine learning approaches resolving the relevant physical mechanisms across spatial and temporal scales. Case studies and operating geothermal projects highlighting engineering challenges (e.g. wellbore stability, scaling), successful methodologies and engineering solutions, or novel geothermal concepts are especially valuable.

Beyond engineering innovation, the session addresses the broader context of geothermal deployment in urban environments. We invite contributions on management strategies of the geothermal resource and integration into urban energy planning. By showcasing innovative research and practical applications, this session highlights the multifaceted potential of geothermal energy in advancing the urban energy transition.

The transition to renewable energy depends on reliable resource assessment and sustainable planning across diverse geographical and environmental settings. Geospatial data, advanced modelling and artificial intelligence offer valuable tools to integrate different data sources, assess resource potential, address uncertainty and support informed decision-making. Combining geological, geophysical, meteorological, hydrogeological and environmental data with satellite imagery, terrain models and operational records can improve both resource assessment and spatial planning.
This session welcomes contributions on geospatial data, GIS, remote sensing and modelling for geothermal, solar, wind and hydropower. Topics include resource mapping, multi-source data integration, spatial suitability analysis, environmental and numerical modelling, data interoperability, uncertainty assessment and the use of AI and machine learning for spatial prediction and automated interpretation.
We also welcome contributions on the use of geospatial information in municipal and regional planning, site selection, land-use assessment and energy infrastructure development. Particular interest lies in approaches that connect spatial data and physical models with practical planning and decision-making, including monitoring, forecasting and operational optimization.
Open datasets, reproducible workflows and open-source tools are encouraged, as are studies assessing model performance and transferability across regions and renewable energy technologies. The session aims to bring together geoscientists, geospatial specialists, planners, engineers and energy researchers to advance the use of geospatial data and digital technologies for renewable energy assessment, planning and sustainable development.

The increasing deployment of ground-source heating and cooling systems relies on understanding, characterising and predicting the thermal and hydraulic behaviour of the subsurface across scales, from laboratory and experimental studies to field applications. Closed- and open-loop systems depend on interactions between heat transport, groundwater flow, geological heterogeneity, and the thermal and hydraulic properties of the subsurface. Understanding these processes is essential for system design, operation, optimisation, long-term performance and sustainability.

This session focuses on ground-source heating and cooling through numerical modelling, field observations, monitoring, experiments and case studies. We welcome contributions on:

• Numerical methods for coupled thermal, hydraulic, mechanical and chemical processes, including finite-difference, finite-volume, finite-element and mixed-dimensional approaches for complex subsurface systems;
• Model calibration, parameter estimation, sensitivity, uncertainty and approaches for improving confidence in subsurface thermal models;
• Exploratory and experimental testing, including thermal response tests and approaches for characterising subsurface properties;
• Monitoring and field observations, including thermal, hydraulic and geophysical monitoring;
• Integration of numerical modelling with monitoring, experimental data and field observations for system characterisation, prediction and performance assessment;
• Field-scale case studies of open- and closed-loop systems, including borehole heat exchangers, aquifers and mines;
• The influence of geological heterogeneity, fractures, faults, groundwater flow and other subsurface processes on system performance;
• System design, optimisation and long-term operation, including interactions between subsurface systems and surface infrastructure such as heat pumps and district heating and cooling networks;
• Innovative approaches to harnessing the subsurface for sustainable heating and cooling across diverse geological, climatic and operational settings.

The session brings together modelling, experimental, monitoring and applied approaches to subsurface heating and cooling. By connecting numerical and experimental methods, it will foster exchange on how to better characterise, design, monitor and operate ground-source systems, while identifying opportunities and challenges for their wider deployment.

As climate change accelerates, the transition to renewable energy systems, such as geothermal energy, underground hydrogen storage, and carbon capture and storage (CCS), are essential. These technologies rely on the exploitation of subsurface porous or fractured reservoirs whose hydraulic and mechanical behavior is fundamentally governed by geological heterogeneities comprising the natural variability in lithology, stratigraphic architecture, and structural fabric. This variability spans different spatial scales, from pore-scale contrasts in grain size and selective cementation, up to basin-scale facies distributions and fault networks, and exerts a strong control on fluid flow, mechanical response, and long-term storage or production performance. However, capturing this heterogeneity and connecting observations across spatial scales remains a major challenge, often limited by data resolution, sampling bias, and the difficulty of upscaling local measurements to reservoir- or basin-scale models.

This session brings together the different disciplines working on geological heterogeneity, with a focus on studies supporting the energy transition and sustainable subsurface use. Fundamental and methodological contributions, as well as applied case studies are welcome! Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Outcrop, core, and well-based characterization of geological heterogeneity in reservoir rocks
• Fault and fracture network architecture, damage zones, and structural controls on flow
• Depositional and stratigraphic controls on facies heterogeneity
• Diagenetic processes involving reservoirs
• Pore- to core-scale heterogeneity and its upscaling
• 3D geological, structural, stratigraphic and diagenetic modelling
• Single- and multiphase fluid-flow and reservoir modelling
• Representative elementary volumes (REVs) and multi-scale upscaling
• Applications to geothermal energy, CCS, and hydrogen storage
• Uncertainty quantification linking characterization to model predictions

Fractures exert first-order control on the hydraulic, mechanical, thermal, and chemical behaviour of many subsurface geoenergy systems. Discrete fracture network DFN models provide a powerful framework for representing fracture geometry, connectivity, transmissivity, and uncertainty across scales, from outcrops and boreholes to reservoir-scale simulations. However, robust DFN characterization and engineering remain challenging because fracture systems are heterogeneous, scale-dependent, and often only partially observable.
This session invites contributions on advances in the characterization, modelling, validation, and engineering of fractured reservoirs for geoenergy applications. Relevant applications include geothermal energy, enhanced geothermal systems EGS, underground thermal energy storage, geological storage of CO2 and hydrogen, nuclear waste isolation, and other subsurface energy technologies where fractures influence performance and risk.
We welcome studies integrating field observations, borehole and core data, structural geology, geophysics, hydraulic testing, tracer tests, microseismicity, remote sensing, laboratory experiments, and numerical modelling. Particular interest lies in methods that quantify fracture network geometry, topology, flow properties, and uncertainty; couple DFN models with thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical THMC-processes; and support decision-making for reservoir stimulation, monitoring, and safe long-term operation.
By bringing together researchers and practitioners from structural geology, hydrogeology, geomechanics, geophysics, reservoir engineering, and computational modelling, this session aims to foster interdisciplinary discussion on how DFN approaches can improve the design, operation, and risk assessment of future geoenergy systems. Particular interest lies in methods that quantify fracture network geometry, topology, flow properties, and uncertainty; coupled DFN models with thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical THMC-processes; and support decision-making for reservoir stimulation, monitoring, and safe long-term operation.

Hydropower is a mature and cost-competitive renewable energy source, which helps stabilize fluctuations between energy demand and supply. The structural and operational differences between hydropower systems and renewable energy farms may require changes in the way hydropower facilities operate to provide balancing, reserves or energy storage. Yet, non-power constraints on hydropower systems, such as water supply, flood control, conservation, recreation, navigation may affect the ability of hydropower to adjust and support the integration of renewables. Holistic approaches that may span a range of spatial and temporal scales are needed to evaluate hydropower opportunities and support a successful integration maintaining a resilient and reliable power grid. In particular, there is a need to better understand and predict spatio-temporal dynamics between climate, hydrology, and power systems.

This session solicits academics and practitioners contributions that explore the use of hydropower and storage technologies to support the transition to low-carbon electricity systems. We specifically encourage interdisciplinary teams of hydrologists, meteorologists, ecologist, power system engineers, and economists to present on case studies and discuss collaboration with environmental and energy policymakers.

Questions of interest include:

- Prediction of water availability and storage capabilities for hydropower production

- Prediction and quantification of the space-time dependences and the positive/negative feedbacks between wind/solar energies, water cycle and hydropower

- Energy, land use and water supply interactions during transitions

- Policy requirements or climate strategies needed to manage and mitigate risks in the transition

- Energy production impacts on ecosystems such as hydropeaking effects on natural flow regimes.

This session has the support of the a) Cost Action : Pan-European Network for Sustainable Hydropower (PEN@Hydropower), and b) European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), that established the joint program “Hydropower” to facilitate research, promote hydropower and enable sustainable electricity production. Further information can be found here:
https://www.pen-hydropower.eu/
https://www.eera-set.eu/eera-joint-programmes-jps/list-of-jps/hydropower/

As climate change and international supply-chain disruptions have exposed the chronic vulnerabilities of our global systems, there is an urgent need to develop new strategies that can strengthen resilience and reduce dependence on fragile supply chains. This session provides a platform for new ideas, multidisciplinary approaches, and alternative strategies for building a more resilient future by using the subsurface to store energy carriers and other critical products. The subsurface offers significant potential for providing large-scale, long-duration storage that can help buffer fluctuations in supply and demand and strengthen the security of critical resources.
We invite submissions encompassing a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches, including feasibility studies, techno-economic analyses, energy-system modelling, life-cycle assessments, real-world case studies, and field projects. All innovative ideas are welcome, and here we provide only suggestions of potential topics:
• As climate change accelerates, new approaches and methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that make use of the subsurface are urgently needed. We invite contributions exploring sustainable energy storage solutions, including hydrogen storage—either as pure hydrogen or as chemical hydrogen carriers (e.g., methanol and liquid organic hydrogen carriers)—as well as heat storage, compressed-air energy storage, and other innovative approaches.
• Current and future supply-chain disruptions may also require the stockpiling of critical products, for which the subsurface could provide a safe and efficient storage solution. We invite contributions addressing the storage of critical products, such as ammonia for fertiliser production or helium for future industries, with a focus on storage operations, life-cycle assessment, and other approaches to evaluating their technical, economic, and environmental feasibility.
• Strategic energy reserves (SERs), such as the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, have played a vital role in enhancing the resilience of our societies. But how will these carbon-based, large-scale and ultra-long-term energy storage systems evolve in the future? As electricity use continues to increase and efforts to decarbonise the energy system accelerate, what might future strategic energy reserves look like? What energy carriers should they store, and how will their design and operation need to change to meet the demands of a low-carbon energy system?

Geoscientific knowledge is crucial to assess safety requirements for radioactive waste disposal strategies. Safety requirements include i) isolation of the nuclear waste from humans and the biosphere, ii) containment of radionuclides by retention and retardation, iii) limitation of water inflow to the geo-engineered facility and iv) long-term geological stability of the site.

The session covers all waste disposal designs, from surface and near-surface facilities to deep geological repositories, as well as borehole disposal. Key topics included in this session are:
• Role of geosciences in site characterisation and selection process
• Disposal design optimisation, including sustainable resource usage
• Geoscientific evidence supporting performance and safety assessment
• Long-term evolution studies of interactions among hydro-, geo- and biosphere, and their impact on the disposal system
• Impact of climate change on waste disposal facilities
• Innovative technologies for site characterisation and monitoring, including digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI)
• Radionuclide migration assessment
• Features and evolution of natural and engineered barrier systems, including induced effects
• Bio-geo-chemical processes, both natural and repository-induced

Contributions on the above topics can include all aspects covering lab-scale experiments, large-scale investigations in underground research facilities, information from site characterisation campaigns, studies of natural analogues, data management, review studies, and development and application of digital tools.

Deep geological repositories (DGR) for radioactive waste place unique demands on geological site characterization. In particular, robust, yet efficient characterization strategies are needed to reduce geological uncertainties and assess the suitability of potential host rocks and their surrounding geological environment that act as natural barriers with respect to the long-term containment of radionuclides. This includes, among other aspects, the evaluation of geological structure, hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical conditions, potential transport pathways for radionuclides, geomechanical properties, and the continuity of low-permeable storage formations. While underground research laboratories (URL) have significantly advanced our knowledge about storage formations for nuclear waste disposal and the coupled processes governing their long-term evolution, an important challenge remains the transfer into a practical site characterization programme.

This session invites contributions on integrated approaches to DGR site characterization, from laboratory to regional scales. We welcome studies addressing the design and optimization of characterization programmes, including deep drilling, geological and structural investigations, hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical testing, borehole logging, geophysical imaging, laboratory analyses, monitoring concepts, and numerical modelling. Particular emphasis is placed on multidisciplinary workflows that combine complementary datasets to efficiently evaluate key repository relevant characteristics, reduce uncertainties, and support evidence-based site assessment.

Contributions from underground research laboratories, national site investigation programmes, and international collaborative projects are particularly encouraged, especially those demonstrating how fundamental research, methodological developments, and integrated characterization strategies can be translated into practical site characterization for deep geological repositories.

The successful implementation of safe deep geological disposal of nuclear waste and other long-lived waste is one of the important environmental challenges in several countries worldwide. Site investigation and selection are primarily geoscientific tasks that require collaboration of different disciplines, like geophysics, hydrogeology, geochemistry, mineralogy, geomechanics, material science, and geological as well as THMC modelling. The development of DGRs also involves the integration of technical designs, evolving regulatory frameworks, and social acceptance considerations.

Barrier integrity is a crucial aspect for the assessment of nuclear waste disposal. Numerical simulations, in conjunction with experimental studies are an integral part of safety and environmental-impact assessment. Reliable comparative analyses of potential technological options require coupled THMC models capturing the particularities of each rock type and associated repository concept. Structural as well as process complexity are met by data scarcity and variability, necessitating the treatment of uncertainties and variability. The session provides a platform for the exchange on the following topics:
- THMC characterization of materials in natural or engineered barriers in lab- or field-scale experiments
- Hydro-mechanical behaviour of materials with extreme hydraulic properties (e.g. low permeability, high suction) and ranging from ductile viscopolastic salt rocks to quasibrittle fractured rock masses
- Hydraulic and chemical behaviour of geologic and geotechnical barriers
- Computational methods, models and uncertainty quantification for barrier integrity assessment in multi-barrier systems
- Geotechnical aspects of repository construction, operation, and post-closure, e.g. monitoring methods, excavation and support, retrieval/recovery, etc.
- Minimally invasive characterization of geology and underground installations using geophysical and geohydrological methods

Contributions can include lab-scale experimentation, underground research laboratories, observation of natural analogues, physics- and data-driven modelling and code development.
Furthermore, the session invites contributions addressing regulatory challenges, public outreach programs, lessons learned from national and international DGR projects, the need for transparent communication to ensure public confidence, and the relevance of geoscientific fundamentals in ensuring the safety of nuclear waste disposal.

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is a key component for efficient energy supply and for achieving a low-carbon energy balance. TES allows flexible storage volumes and periods, and it represents a cross-sector technology that couples heat, cooling energy, and electricity. This session is dedicated to Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) technologies, their performance and engineering, as well as new insights into related heat transport processes in the subsurface. In particular, the focus is on Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES), Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES), Mine Thermal Energy Storage (MTES) and related ground-based variants such as pit storage, cavern storage and artificial water-gravel storage basins. The aim of this session is to overcome obstacles concerning the technical design and sustainable operation of TES by improving our understanding of UTES-related thermal, hydraulic and other environmental effects.
In a broader context, we invite contributions that show how to enhance the societal perceptions and engagement in UTES deployment and how to integrate UTES technologies in wider energy systems. Both in research and in practice, accurate characterization of subsurface flow and heat transport based on observations of induced or natural variations of the thermal regime is essential. Thus, we also welcome contributions that reveal new insight and advances in experimental design, report novel field observations, as well as demonstrate new sequential or coupled modelling concepts.
Seasonal and long-term changes in thermal and mechanical conditions in aquifers and heat transfer across aquifer boundaries are focus points. This includes the role of groundwater and geothermal energy in the context of UTES for predicting the long-term performance of storage and production of thermal energy (heating and cooling), as well as integration into urban planning and policy making. We also invite hydrogeological studies that examine heat as a natural or anthropogenic tracer with the aim of enhancing thermal response testing or improving our understanding of relevant transport processes in the underground.

Large geological storage of energy (e.g., hydrogen, heat), carbon dioxide, and wastes in porous media and engineered caverns is crucial for enabling the shift toward a sustainable, resilient, and low-carbon future. Achieving safe, efficient, and cost-effective operations at scale depends on the storage capacity and injectivity of the reservoir and the sealing performance and integrity of the confining units, faults, and wells, which are governed by a range of thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, chemical, and microbial processes. Thus, secure subsurface storage, together with public acceptance in essential technologies, demands geological expertise, continuous and effective monitoring, and careful assessment of potential risks.
This session offers a platform for interdisciplinary scientific exchange between different branches of storage expertise and aims to address challenges concerning the storage of fluids in geological reservoirs from core- to field-scale. We welcome analytical studies, computational simulations, laboratory experiments, data-driven analyses, developing monitoring techniques, and field-scale investigations to advance fundamental understanding and assessments of coupled physical and chemical processes involved in subsurface storage. We also encourage contributions that investigate specific challenges associated with the scaleup of geological storage technologies.
Case studies and operational projects integrating different elements of the storage chain, as well as field projects focusing on geological energy/carbon storage, are particularly welcome. By comparing results across storage applications, geological settings, scales, and deployment levels, the session aims to identify transferable methodologies, common performance drivers, and scalable solutions for the safe and effective use of the subsurface as a multifunctional storage resource.

Geological CO2 utilization and storage in geothermal systems offer a promising pathway for simultaneously achieving carbon management and low-carbon energy production. By utilizing CO2 as a working fluid or promoting its interaction with geological formations, geothermal systems have the potential to integrate CO2 storage, mineralization, and renewable energy recovery. However, significant scientific and engineering challenges remain in understanding and controlling the complex interactions among CO2, rock, formation water, and geothermal fluids across different spatial and temporal scales.
This session brings together research on the geological CO2 utilization and storage in geothermal systems, covering fundamental mechanisms, laboratory experiments, molecular- and pore-scale modelling, reservoir-scale simulations, and field-scale implementation. Contributions will address topics including CO2-rock-fluid interactions, CO2 dissolution and mineralization, geochemical and geomechanical processes, CO2 circulation and heat extraction, reservoir characterization and modelling, and monitoring and risk assessment. Particular emphasis will be placed on innovative technologies and integrated strategies that bridge fundamental research and field applications. By connecting insights across scales, this session aims to advance the scientific understanding and engineering development of CO2-geothermal systems, supporting large-scale geological CO2 utilization and storage and the transition toward a low-carbon energy future.

The geological storage of carbon dioxide may be needed at vast scales, rates of gigatonnes per year and accumulations of hundreds of gigatonnes sequestered, to mitigate emissions overshoot and limit global warming to less than 1.5oC over the course of the century. While subsurface storage is demonstrated at individual projects injecting at rates of millions of tonnes per year, there remain major uncertainties over how much storage is realistically available and how quickly it can be deployed at regional and global scales.

The regional and global potential for subsurface CO2 storage has been assessed in government and academic studies for decades. More recently there has been an emphasis on incorporating these resources into standard classification schemes, identifying dynamic geophysical and techno-economic limits, and assessing the dynamic potential for storage at regional and global scales. The results of these analyses vary widely, with estimates of the exploitable resource base ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of gigatonnes. This range in turn has implications for climate change mitigation pathways: depending on the availability and scalability of geological storage, it could either place no practical limits on the deployment of carbon capture, carbon dioxide removal, and storage technologies, or become a significant constraint. In addition, differences in regional data availability and experience raise concerns about fairness in assigning regional storage potential and the distribution of global climate mitigation burdens.

In this session we invite presentations discussing the potential scale, constraints, uncertainties, and modelling techniques of gigatonne scale geological CO2 sequestration. Specifically, we invite work encompassing: Quantification of geophysical, techno-economic, and sociopolitical constraints on CO₂ disposal; Assessments of uncertainty around the rates and scale of deployment; Analyses of policy-relevant implications of the potential and limits to the use of CO2 storage; Modelling approaches, including integrated assessment models (IAMs), for analysing these problems.

This session focuses on the geological storage and multifunctional utilization of the deep subsurface, with particular emphasis on the safe, efficient, and sustainable use of geological formations. Topics include CO₂ and other gas storage, underground energy storage, geothermal energy, subsurface waste disposal, resource recovery, and integrated use of depleted oil and gas reservoirs, saline aquifers, salt caverns, and other geological structures. We welcome studies addressing fluid–rock interactions, multiphase flow and reactive transport, geomechanical responses, coupled thermal–hydrological–mechanical–chemical processes, storage capacity and injectivity, containment integrity, induced seismicity, leakage risks, and long-term environmental impacts. Contributions on site characterization, monitoring and verification, numerical simulation, digital twins, laboratory and field experiments, and risk-based assessment are particularly encouraged. The session also seeks interdisciplinary studies exploring the transition from single-purpose geological storage toward multifunctional and integrated subsurface systems, including synergies among carbon storage, energy storage, geothermal utilization, waste management, and resource recovery. Field demonstrations, emerging technologies, and frameworks supporting large-scale and sustainable deployment are especially welcome.

Multiphase flows play a central role in a broad range of natural and engineered processes, such as nutrient cycles and contaminant remediation in soils, and geological storage of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in deep reservoirs. Understanding multiphase systems across scales is therefore fundamental for water resources management as well energy and climate concerns.

The presence of multiple fluid phases enhances heterogeneity at the level of flow, mixing, and reaction in structurally heterogeneous media. This impacts the transport of dissolved substances and fundamentally changes mixing patterns and effective reaction rates, posing major challenges for predictive modeling. Recent theoretical and experimental advances provide unprecedented insights into the pore-scale mechanisms governing these processes and open new opportunities to tackle these challenges.

This session aims to bring together researchers working on fundamental and applied aspects of flow, transport, mixing, and reaction in multi-phase systems across scales. In particular, we encourage submissions relating to experimental, numerical, and theoretical contributions pertaining to the following topics:

- Impact of medium heterogeneity on multiphase flow, from the pore to the continuum scale.
- Impact of multiphase flow patterns on mixing and reaction rates across scales in heterogeneous media.
- Biogeochemical processes in multiphase systems.
- Applications to vadose zone hydrology and geological storage.

The secure and sustainable supply of raw materials is fundamental to the energy and digital transitions, while increasing demand for critical and strategic raw materials creates new environmental, technological, economic and societal challenges. Addressing these challenges requires integrated approaches covering the entire mineral-resource life cycle, from exploration and resource evaluation to extraction, processing, responsible consumption, circularity, mine closure and post-mining land use.

This session invites contributions presenting innovative approaches for responsible consumption and production in the raw materials and mining sector, with particular emphasis on methods and technologies that improve resource efficiency, reduce environmental impacts and uncertainties, and support resilient and responsible mineral value chains.

We particularly welcome contributions addressing:

Sustainable exploration, resource evaluation and uncertainty-aware mineral-resource modelling;
Responsible surface and underground extraction and mine planning;
Critical and strategic raw materials from primary and secondary resources;
Critical and strategic raw materials from primary and secondary sources, including recovery and valorisation from urban wastes, mine wastes, tailings and slags;
Digital mining, remote sensing, GIS, geostatistics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, robotics and digital twins;
Environmental impacts of extraction and processing (water, energy, emissions, waste, ecosystems) and their assessment through life-cycle and sustainability-performance approaches;
Responsible sourcing, traceability, supply-chain resilience and raw-material criticality;
Mine-waste management, rehabilitation, mine closure, post-mining monitoring and sustainable post-mining land uses;
Risk, uncertainty and safety assessment throughout the mining life cycle;
Innovative governance, ESG, regulatory and decision-support approaches for sustainable raw-material development.

The session seeks to bring together researchers, practitioners, industry representatives and early-career scientists working across related topics.

We especially encourage interdisciplinary contributions that demonstrate how geoscientific knowledge, advanced technologies and circular-economy principles can be integrated to reconcile raw-material security with environmental protection and responsible production and consumption.

The growing global demand for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) is expected to further intensify extractive activities. Securing a resilient and reliable supply of CRMs will require the identification and development of new and alternative resources, including their recovery as by-products of conventional mining operations and from the reprocessing of extractive waste (EW). In this context, the development of more efficient, cleaner, and innovative approaches for the extraction and recovery of CRMs from both primary and secondary resources will be crucial.
CRMs production, from exploration and extraction to processing and waste management, can generate significant environmental pressures, including landscape alteration, land-use degradation, and soil and water contamination. These environmental pressures are closely interconnected with social and economic challenges, but also create new opportunities throughout the supply chain, particularly in relation to the valorization and management of EW facilities. A sustainable CRMs supply therefore requires a responsible and integrated approach.
This session welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Exploration and extraction of CRMs from primary mineral resources.
• Recovery of CRMs as by-products of conventional mineral exploitation.
• Revalorization of EW facilities as secondary sources of CRMs.
• Technological innovations for the exploration, extraction, processing, and reprocessing of minerals from primary deposits and EW.
• Advances in sampling and characterization methodologies for minerals and EW to improve resource assessment and environmental impact evaluation.
• Multiscale exploration of CRMs through innovative sensing technologies, automation, and modelling of primary and secondary resources.
• Environmental aspects and challenges associated with CRMs supply chain.
• Environmental and geotechnical innovations for addressing the challenges posed by EW facilities.
• The role of regulatory frameworks in promoting innovative approaches and supporting responsible production and CRMs recovery.
• Contributions of economists, social scientists, legal scholars, psychologists, and policymakers to addressing the social and economic challenges associated with new and reactivated mining activities and to fostering a responsible and socially accepted mining sector.
• Applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning throughout the mining life cycle.

Mining moves more material each year than all natural terrestrial processes combined, while crushing and refining the extracted ores consumes some 2% of global energy production. The energy transition sharpens this paradox, as replacing fossil infrastructure with renewables demands a many-fold increase in the supply of copper, lithium, rare earth elements and other critical raw materials, which secondary supply cannot deliver on the timescales involved. Europe, notably, has one of the world's longest mining histories, yet limited investment and low public acceptance due to environmental and social costs have left the geology of many districts unexplored by modern methods. This session convenes the technical and conceptual advances needed to explore differently in Europe and worldwide.

We thus invite contributions on non-invasive, low-impact exploration for societally acceptable resource sources: novel geophysical acquisition and inversion, including passive, airborne and drone-borne methods; remote sensing from satellite through UAV to drill-core scales, including hyperspectral imaging and rapid geochemical characterisation; and mineral-systems or knowledge-driven frameworks that turn sparse observations into testable targets.

Innovative approaches to holistic data integration and prospectivity mapping are equally relevant, as a fusion of diverse legacy and new data is needed to generate predictive targets. We especially encourage submissions that take this interdisciplinary approach even further: to integrate societal and environmental licence to operate into target prioritisation, monitoring tools that ensure accountability across the exploration and mining lifecycle, and work identifying overlooked primary and secondary resources in legacy mining areas.

Deep-seated and concealed mineral deposits represent a major opportunity for securing the sustainable supply of critical raw materials required for Europe’s energy, digital and industrial transitions. However, exploring mineral resources at greater depths and beneath geological cover remains technically challenging, costly, and uncertain. Reducing these uncertainties requires a new generation of exploration approaches capable of integrating geological knowledge with advanced sensing, geophysical imaging, geochemistry, Earth observation, automated data processing, and predictive modelling.

This session invites contributions presenting innovative technologies, methodologies and integrated workflows for the exploration of mineral resources, from early-stage geological targeting to field validation and demonstration. Particular attention will be given to approaches that combine complementary datasets and technologies across different spatial scales and improve our ability to identify indirect geological, geochemical, geophysical and spectral expressions of mineralisation at depth.

We particularly encourage contributions linked to recent advances in remote and proximal sensing, passive and active geophysics, UAV-based measurements, hyperspectral imaging, robotics, artificial intelligence and multi-source data integration are creating new possibilities for detecting, characterising and assessing deep mineral systems. These technologies can improve exploration targeting while reducing drilling requirements, operational costs, environmental disturbance and the time needed to move from regional-scale prospectivity assessment to deposit-scale investigation.

This session is promoted by DEXPLORE project entitled Recognising European potential for hosting deep land primary CRM by combining new mineral models and advanced exploration and visualisation techniques (Grant Agreement: 101178897), funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Metal sulphides (such as pyrite FeS2, chalcopyrite CuFeS2, or galena PbS) play a central role in the global sulphur and iron cycles and link the geosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere. They serve both as sinks for sulphur and metals under oxygen-free conditions and as significant sources of acid and dissolved metals when exposed to oxygen. They regulate the Earth's long-term oxygen concentration, bind toxic heavy metals, and play a key role in bio-geo-chemical processes.
This session encourages contributions from scientists investigating metal sulphides across a range of physico-bio-geo-chemical conditions in various earth science disciplines, including but not limited to paleoenvironmental reconstructions, nuclear waste storage, ore deposit formation or acid mine drainage. Our aim is to foster intradisciplinary knowledge transfer between different research areas and approaches, including geochemical field studies, in-situ and laboratory investigations of rocks and formations as well as numerical simulation studies within the given context.
Along with this multidisciplinary poster session, a GeoPanel (GP) is organized which will focus on some general aspects. The scientific in-depth discussion of metal sulphides is planned here.

The global energy transition is driving unprecedented demand for critical and strategic raw materials such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. In Europe, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) sets ambitious targets for domestic extraction and processing, and requires Member States to establish national exploration programmes, including geoscientific surveys, mineral mapping and geochemical campaigns. These programmes are generating a new wave of regional and national-scale geophysical datasets and renewing interest in the reinterpretation of legacy data. With most near-surface deposits in well-explored terranes already discovered, future discoveries will increasingly depend on our ability to image deeper, covered and geologically complex targets.
This session invites contributions on all aspects of geophysics applied to mineral exploration, from national to deposit scale. We welcome studies using potential field (gravity, magnetics), electromagnetic, magnetotelluric, induced polarisation, seismic, radiometric and borehole methods, as well as airborne, drone-based and passive-source approaches.
Contributions presenting results, strategies and lessons learned from national exploration programmes, as well as work on low-impact exploration, social acceptance, and secondary resources such as mine waste and tailings, are also welcome. The session aims to bring together academia, geological surveys and industry to discuss how geophysics can support a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials in Europe and worldwide.

As the global energy transition accelerates, there is an increasing need to understand the lithosphere not only for critical minerals, but also for emerging resources such as natural hydrogen and geothermal energy. This session aims to bring together geoscientists—particularly geophysicists working across diverse methodologies—to foster interdisciplinary discussion and advance our understanding of how lithospheric architecture controls the formation, distribution, and preservation of these resource systems.



We invite contributions focused on imaging and characterising the continental lithosphere at scales ranging from regional to local, using geophysical array and profile data. Studies that integrate multiple datasets—such as electromagnetic surveys, magnetotellurics, seismic tomography and reflection, distributed acoustic sensing, gravity, magnetics, geoid, and heat flow—are particularly encouraged. We also welcome research that combines geophysical data with geological, geochemical, mineralogical, and petrophysical approaches to provide a holistic understanding of lithospheric processes.



This session will highlight advances that inform the discovery and sustainable development of critical minerals, natural hydrogen, and geothermal resources, ultimately contributing to a secure and low-carbon energy future.

This session will explore the practical implementation of the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) focusing on applications to mineral deposits and related topics, such as those extracted from brines in geothermal fields. The session sets particular emphasis on its application in Europe in the context of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). It calls for contributions reflecting on Strategic Projects, National Exploration Programmes, monitoring of critical raw materials projects and extractive waste as the CRMA establishes UNFC as key classification framework for various aspects of critical raw materials management.

Progress, practical experiences and emerging challenges related to the implementation of UNFC across European countries will be discussed. Particular attention shall be given to how UNFC can support consistent and comparable information on primary and secondary raw materials, facilitate monitoring and reporting, and contribute to informed decision-making on critical raw materials. Previous European implementation work has already addressed applications ranging from extraction and processing to recycling and substitution projects.

The session will also provide a forum for discussing practical issues encountered during implementation, including the interpretation and application of UNFC categories, alignment with existing national classification and reporting systems, data availability and quality, capacity building, and the development of appropriate guidance. Through examples, lessons learned and discussion among policymakers, geological surveys, resource experts, industry and international organisations, the session aims to identify best practices and highlights areas where further harmonisation, methodological development and international cooperation are required.

We would very much welcome the sharing of experiences and ideas on how the framework can support a common approach to the classification and management of resources across different legal systems.

Raw materials extraction has significant environmental and social impacts on local ecosystems and communities worldwide. As mining intensifies to support the energy transition, digital transformation, and the defence sector, multiple scientific communities are now closely monitoring these impacts not only at a site scale but globally. The need to understand local changes caused by mining has led researchers to increasingly focus on spatially explicit methods and approaches to map and assess these impacts at larger scales, e.g. national, regional, and global. The scalability of methods to monitor mining impacts is critical because minerals supply chains are highly complex, i.e. a single final consumption product can be linked to extraction sites distributed around the world, within regions with their specific characteristics (ecosystem types and services, community subsistence practices, local regulations, etc). Disentangling these spatial heterogeneities would provide the basis to improve assessments of impacts and risks of global supply chains and integrate spatially explicit datasets that would better represent the true impact of individual raw materials at their extraction sites and surroundings. This session invites contributions that move towards large-scale monitoring of the multiple impacts and operational aspects of mining at national and global levels, with a particular focus to the following topics:
This session invites contributions on large-scale monitoring of mining impacts and operations, focusing on
Land-use changes, degradation, and rehabilitation;
Biodiversity (loss and ecosystem service disruptions);
Social impacts;
Water resources (quantity, quality, scarcity, and downstream agricultural effects);
Carbon footprint assessments, leveraging large-scale spatial data from the sector;
Monitoring of mining waste and tailings, including tracking the evolution of waste volumes;
Remote sensing techniques to map mining activities and their impacts that demonstrate scalability;
Assessment of impacts from raw material extraction embodied in trade and final consumption of goods and services;
Self-reported data (corporate ESG reports);
Regional or global databases documenting mining activities;
Data collection methodologies (AI, ML, web scraping, crowdsourcing, etc).
Note: Site-specific case studies are out of scope. This session focuses exclusively on scalable, spatially explicit monitoring options for regional or global assessments.

The transition towards sustainable and resilient raw materials supply requires improved monitoring and characterisation across the entire mining lifecycle, from exploration to closure and post-mining management. Earth Observation (EO), combined with in-situ measurements, geospatial technologies and advanced data analytics, is opening new possibilities for the continuous characterization and monitoring of areas of raw material potential, as well as active, inactive, abandoned and legacy mining sites, This includes the exploration of prospective areas, open pits, underground mining areas, waste rock dumps, tailings storage facilities and surrounding environments, supporting a comprehensive understanding of mining activities and their environmental impacts throughout the full mining cycle
This session brings together innovative EO products, sensor technologies, and modelling approaches for developing integrated monitoring frameworks that transform heterogeneous multi-source observations into actionable knowledge across the full raw materials and mining lifecycle. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary contributions addressing the characterization, monitoring, management, and risk assessment of prospective areas, mine waste sites, including tailings facilities and waste-rock deposits
The session welcomes contributions on
• Earth observation, geospatial approaches and sensor technologies across the full mining life cycle
• Ground deformation, dynamic hazard and geotechnical and risk monitoring and assessment of mining sites, tailings facilities, waste-rock deposits, and other mining-related infrastructure
• Environmental and sustainability monitoring, including land-use change, water, vegetation, contamination, and ecosystem impacts associated with mining and mine waste
• Multi-scale and multi-source data integration, combining satellite, airborne, UAV, and ground-based observations with geological, geochemical, geotechnical, and historical data for exploration, mine monitoring and post-mining assessment
• AI, ML, data fusion, and predictive modelling for automated, continuous, and near-real-time monitoring and assessment
• Data scalability, interoperability, and practical uptake of monitoring approaches, including their transferability across sites and regions and implementation by industry, authorities, and environmental managers

Background:
Fast technological advances and the targets set for energy transition drive the increasing demand for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). These trends cause fundamental dependencies on a secure raw material supply, and highlight the limitations and vulnerabilities of relying predominantly on primary raw material extraction. Given the projected growth in demand in the upcoming years, primary resources alone are unlikely to sustainably meet future raw material needs, increasing the importance of recovery of valuable materials from secondary sources to strengthen the supply chains. Consequently, circular concepts have gained increasing importance in order to close material loops, reduce dependence on primary resources and mitigate global supply risks.
In this context, developing smarter and more efficient methods and technologies for the detection and monitoring of secondary raw materials will be essential to improve material recovery and support their reliable reintegration into material supply chains.

Objectives:
In this session, we welcome contributions with focus on novel technologies and workflows such as:
- Sensor-based detection, identification and characterisation of CRMs, polymers, REEs, semiconductors and other valuable materials in complex and heterogeneous waste streams;
- Imaging, spectroscopic, and multimodal sensing approaches for continuous digitalisation and material identification;
- AI-based workflows and advanced data processing approaches for multisensor fusion, process optimisation, and automated decision-marking in secondary raw material recover/monitoring of stocks and flow;
- Chemical, physical, and density-based methods for material separation and recovery, including pre-treatment workflows designed to improve the separability and recovery of materials from complex streams;
- Applications targeting recovery of materials from complex waste streams such as: re-mining and secondary resources including mine waste and tailings, end-of-life vehicle (ELV), waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE).

High-temperature industrial and applied processes rely on materials and systems that can withstand extreme thermal, mechanical, and chemical conditions. As such, refractory materials are central to a wide range of high-temperature industrial and applied processes, including metallurgy, glass production, ceramics, cement, waste-to-energy systems and related thermal technologies. Their performance is governed by complex interactions between raw-materials, phase evolution, microstructure, thermal and mechanical loading, and chemical attack by slags, melts, dusts, and reactive gases. Understanding these processes is essential for improving material durability, process efficiency, and sustainability in extreme environments.
This session welcomes contributions on refractory materials and high-temperature mineralogical processes across industrial and applied systems. Topics may include raw materials, metallurgy, synthesis and processing, phase stability, melt-solid-gas interactions, corrosion and degradation mechanisms, thermal shock and creep behaviour, and lifetime prediction. In addition, we encourage studies that link refractory behaviour to metallurgical practice and plant performance, alongside characterization, modelling, work on circular approaches, such as recycling, the use of secondary raw materials, and strategies to reduce the environmental footprint of high-temperature industries.
Our session aims to connect fundamental research, advanced characterization, modelling, and industrial case studies. Contributions from universities, research facilities, and industry are equally welcome, with the goal of fostering exchange across the full chain from materials design and processing to service performance and end-of-life management.

Natural hydrogen generated mainly by water–rock interactions, particularly oxydo-reduction of Fe-bearing rocks, is increasingly investigated as both a fundamental geological process and a potential subsurface resource. While geological H₂ generation has been observed, major uncertainties remain regarding production rates, pathways, geochemical and biological sinks, and accumulation in the subsurface.
Addressing these questions requires moving towards an integrated understanding of the natural hydrogen system, from source to accumulation. Bridging fundamental research and exploration is essential: process-based knowledge provides the framework for interpreting subsurface observations, while exploration datasets offer unique opportunities to test hypotheses at the scale of natural systems.
This session invites multidisciplinary contributions addressing the different components of natural hydrogen systems: water sources, circulation and access to reactive rocks; geometry and dynamics of ultramafic source regions; serpentinization mechanisms, reaction kinetics and H₂ generation; structural controls and migration pathways; geochemical and biological sinks; gas–water–rock interactions and gas mixtures; reservoir properties, trapping and sealing mechanisms; and H₂ accumulation and preservation.
We particularly welcome studies integrating geology, structural geology, petrology, geochemistry, microbiology, laboratory experiments, numerical and reactive-transport modelling, and geophysical imaging, including seismic, electromagnetic, gravity, magnetic and multiphysics approaches.
A central objective is to connect processes with observable signatures: What transforms an H₂-generating geological environment into a functioning natural hydrogen system? Which observations can constrain its source, activity, migration pathways and potential accumulation? By connecting fundamental understanding with subsurface observations, this session aims to advance both the science and exploration of natural hydrogen.

The current energy, climate, and geopolitical crises underscore the urgent need to develop carbon-free natural resources, with natural hydrogen as one of the most promising candidates. However, fundamental knowledge gaps persist regarding the complex, interconnected geological, geochemical, and microbiological processes that govern its generation, migration, accumulation, preservation, and seepage. This session aims to improve our understanding of the natural hydrogen cycle through the integrated interpretation of multi-scale (from laboratory to field scale) and multi-disciplinary observations. Contributions should present novel or established methods to: 1) reliably distinguish geological from non-geological (microbial and artificial) hydrogen sources; 2) link surface geochemical, microbiological and/or geophysical signatures to subsurface processes and migration pathways; 3) quantify the hydrogen generation and consumption/degradation rates to assess its potential as a sustainable energy resource; and 4) Improve current models of the natural hydrogen cycle. We invite contributions from researchers applying surface geochemical, microbiological, subsurface geophysical exploration techniques, as well as integrated multi-disciplinary approaches including modelling to reduce ambiguities in data interpretation and improve predictive capabilities for natural hydrogen systems.

This session aims to provide a comprehensive platform for discussing the latest advancements in lunar science, exploration, and resource utilization.
This session will cover critical aspects of lunar science, including investigations of the deep interior, subsurface structure, surface morphology, up to atmospheric dynamics and the solar wind interaction. Such studies can make use of lunar mission data, lunar samples, meteorites, terrestrial analogues, laboratory experiments, and / or modeling efforts. Comparative investigations linking the Moon with asteroids or planet Mercury are equally encouraged.
In addition to highlighting results from past and current space missions, this session seeks to explore innovative ideas for future exploration, including insights on forthcoming space missions and instrumentation aiming to greatly advance our understanding of the Moon in the next decades. Furthermore, the session will focus on identifying strategic knowledge gaps crucial for the safe and sustainable exploration of cis-lunar space and the lunar surface by astronauts. Finally, the session will discuss the role of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), which has recently been proposed as the key enabler of a sustained human presence on the Moon.
We welcome all relevant contributions — spanning theoretical models, observational data, and experimental findings — from experts of different fields including science and engineering. As such, the session aims to foster a comprehensive dialogue on ongoing developments and plans of lunar exploration activities.

Global demand for critical metals is rising sharply, driven by the energy transition, electrification, and geopolitical pressure on supply chains, while historically high gold prices have made lower-grade and more geologically challenging precious-metal resources economically attractive to mine. Deformation plays a central role in this challenge: it can remobilise, concentrate, or trap metals at scales ranging from crystal defects to orogen-scale structures, controlling where these resources ultimately reside. This session explores how structural processes, from dislocation-scale metal siting in ore minerals to dilational sites hosting mineralised veins and intrusions, govern the distribution of precious and critical metals, and what this means for meeting future supply needs. We welcome contributions examining ore-forming processes genetically linked to deformation, resolving micro- to nano-scale controls on metal distribution and mobilisation, or establishing how crustal deformation governs ore distribution and what that implies for designing effective exploration strategies.

Numerous cases of induced/triggered seismicity resulting either directly or indirectly from injection/extraction associated with anthropogenic activity related to geo-resources exploration have been reported in the last decades. Induced earthquakes felt by the general public can often negatively affect public perception of geo-energies and may lead to the cancellation of important projects. Furthermore, large earthquakes may jeopardize wellbore stability and damage surface infrastructure. Thus, monitoring and modeling processes leading to fault slip, either seismic or aseismic, are critical to developing effective and reliable forecasting methodologies during deep underground exploitation. The complex interaction between injected fluids, subsurface geology, stress interactions, and resulting fault slip requires an interdisciplinary approach to understand the triggering mechanisms, and may require taking coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes into account.
In this session, we invite contributions from research aimed at investigating the interaction of the above processes during exploitation of underground resources, including hydrocarbon extraction, wastewater disposal, geothermal energy exploitation, hydraulic fracturing, gas storage and production, mining, and reservoir impoundment for hydro-energy. We particularly encourage novel contributions based on laboratory and underground near-fault experiments, numerical modeling, the spatio-temporal relationship between seismic properties, injection/extraction parameters, and/or geology, and fieldwork. Contributions covering both theoretical and experimental aspects of induced and triggered seismicity at multiple spatial and temporal scales are welcome.

Faults and fractures are fundamental structural features of reservoirs and sealing units, with hydraulic and mechanical properties that differ markedly from the surrounding rock. Their behaviour governs fluid flow, containment, and fluid-rock interaction, central to the safety and performance of geoenergy applications such as CO₂ and hydrogen storage, nuclear waste disposal, and geothermal energy production.

Recent advancements in laboratory experimental capabilities, field observation techniques, monitoring technologies, and numerical modelling methods have deepened our understanding of fault/fracture deformation, failure, and (re-)activation. These discontinuities act as conduits or barriers for fluid and heat flow, enhancing or impairing reservoir performance. Of particular concern are changes in thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) coupling associated with injection, fluid circulation, and extraction near faulted and fractured zones, which can alter transmissibility and structural stability.

Understanding these dynamics is crucial for predicting and mitigating risks associated with induced seismicity, leakage, and other subsurface hazards. These insights also improve the accuracy of numerical models used to predict fault behaviour at reservoir scales and guide the design and management of geoenergy projects.

We invite contributions from researchers exploring the role of faults and fractures in subsurface systems, particularly those involved in applied or interdisciplinary studies related to low-carbon technologies such as CO₂ and hydrogen storage, nuclear waste disposal, and geothermal energy production. We are particularly interested in research bridging the gap between laboratory-scale measurements and reservoir-scale processes, employing methods including but not limited to laboratory investigations, outcrop studies, in-situ experiments, monitoring, subsurface data analysis, and numerical modelling and simulation. Interdisciplinary approaches integrating geological, geophysical, and engineering perspectives are especially welcome.

The session aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of faults and fractures on subsurface energy systems, showcasing innovative methods for their characterisation, monitoring, and modelling.

The increasing use of the subsurface for energy production, storage, and waste disposal requires a better understanding of how geological systems respond to human activities. Changes in subsurface conditions trigger interactions between thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, chemical, and biological (THMCB) processes, which influence fluid and heat transport, rock properties, and the long-term evolution of engineered subsurface systems. Understanding these interactions is essential for predicting system performance and ensuring safe and sustainable operation.

Although subsurface technologies differ in their objectives and operational conditions, they share many underlying processes and challenges. Research on geothermal energy, underground energy storage, geological CO₂ storage, and radioactive waste disposal can therefore benefit from a common understanding of coupled processes and the exchange of knowledge between research communities.

This session welcomes contributions investigating individual and coupled THMCB processes in porous and fractured geological media. We encourage experimental, observational, and modelling studies that improve our understanding of how these processes interact and affect subsurface behavior. We encourage contributions that explore feedback between processes, bridge spatial and temporal scales, and improve our ability to predict subsurface responses under changing conditions.

Geological media are a strategic resource for the forthcoming energy transition and their use for low-carbon geo-energy technologies is increasing to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. Subsurface engineering applications such as deep geothermal resource exploitation, carbon capture and sequestration, or gas storage involve multi-physical processes in the porous and fractured rock. These processes include fluid flow, solute and heat transport, rock deformation and geochemical (including microbial) reactions, which occur simultaneously and impact each other. The safe and efficient deployment of such geo-energy technologies is bounded to the adequate understanding of these coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes, and predictive capabilities heavily rely on the quality of the integration between the input data (laboratory and field evidence like ground deformation) and the mathematical models describing the evolution of the multi-physical systems.
This session is dedicated to studies investigating some of these THMC interactions by means of mathematical, experimental, numerical, data-driven and artificial intelligence methods, as well as studies focused on laboratory characterization and gathering and interpreting in-situ geological and geophysical evidence of the multi-physical behavior of rocks. Welcomed contributions include approaches covering applications of carbon capture and storage, geothermal systems, gas storage, energy storage, mining, reservoir management, reservoir stimulation, fluid injection-induced seismicity and radioactive waste storage.

Scientific machine learning (SciML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly used to interpret heterogeneous subsurface data, accelerate multiphysics simulation, infer uncertain parameters, and support decisions in geotechnical, environmental, and geoenergy applications. Their practical value, however, depends on physical consistency, generalisation beyond training conditions, uncertainty characterisation, and validation against independent evidence.
This session invites contributions on recent methodological advances and innovative applications of data-driven, physics-informed, and hybrid physics-AI techniques for geotechnical, geothermal, and subsurface systems. Relevant applications include, but not limited to, site and subsurface characterisation; geothermal exploration, reservoir development, monitoring, and operation; groundwater flow, transport in porous media, multicomponent reactive transport, and geochemical processes; coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes; underground storage of heat, hydrogen, or carbon dioxide; and geotechnical infrastructure.
We welcome work on supervised and unsupervised learning, deep learning, physics-informed neural networks, neural operators, surrogate and reduced-order models, inverse modelling, data assimilation, Bayesian inference, digital twins, and other relevant studies. Contributions addressing heterogeneous or sparse data, multiscale modelling, uncertainty quantification, sensitivity analysis, model discrepancy, transferability, interpretability, and computational efficiency are particularly encouraged.
A central objective is to connect methodological development with physical and observational evidence. We therefore welcome studies integrating laboratory experiments, imaging and sensing methods, field monitoring, operational data, and numerical simulations for training, calibration, verification, and validation. Comparative studies that establish when machine learning or physics-informed methods improve upon conventional numerical, statistical, or inverse approaches and where they do not are especially valuable.

Accurate knowledge of the subsurface stress state and mechanical behaviour is fundamental across a broad spectrum of geoscientific and engineering disciplines — from understanding plate tectonics, geohazards, and mass transport to the development of subsurface resources and infrastructure. The characterisation and management of geo-reservoirs, including geothermal energy, carbon sequestration, hydrogen and gas storage, and nuclear waste repositories, depend strongly on understanding the in situ stress, rock mechanical behaviour, deformation, and fault stability. Mining is another major frontier, as both open-pit and underground operations move to greater depths, encountering complex geological structures, heterogeneous rock masses, and challenging stress conditions, and require improved understanding and prediction of geomechanics.

Yet measuring, constraining, and predicting subsurface geomechanics remains inherently challenging and are subject to significant uncertainties. Addressing these challenges requires continued advances in laboratory and field measurements, modelling and inversion approaches, data integration, and emerging computational techniques — including the rapidly growing capabilities of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

This session invites contributions presenting novel methodologies, emerging approaches, and ambitious case studies spanning the full breadth of geomechanical research, from laboratory and field observations to numerical modelling, uncertainty analysis, and AI-driven approaches. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Advances in stress orientation and magnitude characterisation
- Novel laboratory and field techniques for stress characterisation
- Advances in 3D and 4D geomechanical modelling across spatial and temporal scales
- Machine learning and AI-driven approaches
- Data-driven integration of geological, geophysical, borehole and remote sensing observations
- Advances in computational methods, inversion techniques, and uncertainty analysis
- Innovative case studies

This session aims to bring together engineers, modellers, and computational experts from academia and industry to discuss the latest advances and persistent challenges in geomechanics. By bridging observations, experiments, modelling, uncertainty, and emerging AI-based approaches, the session seeks to promote interdisciplinary exchange and help shape the next generation of geomechanical methods, tools, and applications.

In recent years, technologies based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as image processing, smart sensors, and intelligent inversion, have garnered significant attention from researchers in the geosciences community. These technologies offer the promise of transitioning geosciences from qualitative to quantitative analysis, unlocking new insights and capabilities previously thought unattainable.
One of the key reasons for the growing popularity of AI in geosciences is its unparalleled ability to efficiently analyze vast datasets within remarkably short timeframes. This capability empowers scientists and researchers to tackle some of the most intricate and challenging issues in fields like Geophysics, Seismology, Hydrology, Planetary Science, Remote Sensing, and Disaster Risk Reduction.
As we stand on the cusp of a new era in geosciences, the integration of artificial intelligence promises to deliver more accurate estimations, efficient predictions, and innovative solutions. By leveraging algorithms and machine learning, AI empowers geoscientists to uncover intricate patterns and relationships within complex data sources, ultimately advancing our understanding of the Earth's dynamic systems. In essence, artificial intelligence has become an indispensable tool in the pursuit of quantitative precision and deeper insights in the fascinating world of geosciences.
For this reason, aim of this session is to explore new advances and approaches of AI in Geosciences.

The subsurface is increasingly recognized as a finite, shared and strategic space in which multiple, often competing uses must coexist over long time horizons. Energy storage and production, carbon dioxide removal, groundwater supply, underground infrastructure, and the storage or disposal of waste all rely on carefully a managed subsurface resource. How these uses interact has become a critical question for sustainable development.
This challenge is particularly acute in urban regions, where pressures from climate change, growing energy demand, environmental pollution, and social transformation converge. Densely populated cities are hotspots of resource consumption and vulnerability, but also key sites of innovation where resilient, low-carbon and just futures can be actively co-designed. At the same time, urban growth increasingly depends on subsurface resources located beyond city boundaries that support cities through the provision of energy and water, as well as through the removal of waste.
Understanding urban resilience and transformation therefore requires an integrated view of surface and subsurface systems across urban and extra-urban spaces, and across spatial and temporal scales. Yet, the role of surface and subsurface geo-processes within broader socio-technical and socio-ecological dynamics remains underexplored. Addressing this gap is essential for ensuring that subsurface resources are used in ways that are environmentally sustainable, socially just and mindful of future needs. We invite contributions addressing these aspects and research gaps supportive of ways that are environmentally sustainable, socially just and mindful of future needs and aim to increase the connectivity between the partially isolated science domains.

Climate change is reshaping the fate, mobility, persistence, and toxicity of contaminants across environmental systems. Shifts in temperature, precipitation, flooding, drought, wildfires, sea-level rise, and permafrost thaw are altering transport pathways, remobilising sequestered pollutants, and creating new exposure routes. These processes affect both legacy contaminants and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including PFAS, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and antibiotic resistance genes, complicating monitoring and risk assessment.

Climate change is also transforming indoor environments, where people spend most of their time. Heatwaves and wildfire smoke are raising energy demand and accelerating building retrofits. Changes to building envelopes, insulation, airtightness, and cooling and ventilation systems affect airflow, moisture transport, pollutant infiltration, and thermal comfort. Understanding how outdoor climate, building energy balance, ventilation, indoor air quality, and occupant exposure interact is essential for designing healthy, climate-resilient buildings.
Topics include:
1. Sensing, monitoring, and early-warning tools for climate-driven contaminants outdoors and indoors.
2. Modelling contaminant fate, transport, and exposure across air, water, soil, and indoor environments under future climates.
3. Building energy balance, urban heat, and climate-responsive performance.
4. Indoor air quality, including infiltration, ventilation effectiveness, moisture dynamics, and outdoor–indoor source interactions.
5. Thermal comfort under climate change and the role of cooling, design, and ventilation in occupant health.
6. Retrofitting and decarbonization impacts on ventilation, indoor pollutants, and thermal resilience.
7. Remobilization of legacy contaminants by floods, wildfires, drought, sea-level rise, and permafrost thaw.
8. CECs under climate-driven environmental change.
9. Cross-compartment transfer linking air, water, soil, and indoor environments.
10. Nature-based and engineered remediation, exposure mitigation, and climate-resilient policy and governance.

We invite environmental, atmospheric, soil, and building scientists, hydrologists, exposure and public health researchers, toxicologists, and policy experts to advance integrated solutions for contaminant exposure in a changing climate.

The rapid expansion of offshore wind energy (OWE) is transforming coastal and marine ecosystems. Offshore wind farms modify atmospheric boundary layer dynamics, generate large wind wakes, alter air-sea exchanges, and influence ocean circulation and mixing processes. These physical disruptions affect marine ecosystems through cascading impacts on stratification, nutrient availability, primary productivity, biodiversity, and biogeochemical cycling. In seasonally ice-covered regions, offshore wind infrastructure may also interact with sea ice processes and winter navigation.
As developments scale up and move into deeper and higher-latitude waters, managing their footprint requires integrated approaches spanning atmospheric sciences, oceanography, sea ice physics, ecology, biogeochemistry and engineering. Sustainable OWE deployment relies on effective use of marine space that balances ecological constraints with shifting socioeconomic and climate realities. Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) solutions serve as a critical bridge in this landscape. By integrating multi-source data, high-fidelity ocean-atmosphere models, and machine learning, DTOs enable real-time tracking, prediction of cumulative impacts, understanding feedback mechanisms across Earth system components, and virtual stress-testing of turbine and farm placement to optimize OWE efficiency while minimizing ecological degradation. Ideally, DTOs inform Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and enable sustainable use of marine space.
This session invites studies investigating OWE impacts on atmospheric, oceanic, and sea ice processes, marine ecosystems, and their interactions using simulations, data-driven methods, in-situ observations, and remote sensing. Contributions on innovative cumulative impact assessment, DTO integration, multi-disciplinary modelling and decision-support tools are particularly welcome.

Moving to a low carbon economy to fight climate change will require the constructions and operations of multiples large renewable energy and critical mineral mining projects, which often include extensive supportive infrastructures across large geographic areas. As such, these projects will have long-lasting and far-reaching impacts on the host ecosystems, the watersheds and the communities. Across the world, these projects are more likely to be developed in rural and remote areas where biophysical systems have had limited anthropogenic impacts. These new projects will bring a suite of impacts to theses socio-ecological systems that can be hard to quantify and, therefore, mitigate. To support a green, just and equitable transition, natural and social scientists across a broad range of disciplines must come together to develop innovative cumulative assessments methods, frameworks, and indicators. This is imperative to support science-based impact assessments and policies across the globe.

In this session, we invite participant to submit their work related to natural project development, impact assessments, and large-scale modelling of cumulative impacts. We especially are interested in bringing together participants from different areas of the world to showcase their research in their particular context.

Subsurface energy and environmental systems like geothermal energy systems, geological carbon storage, underground hydrogen storage, groundwater flow systems, etc., play a vital role for mitigating climate change and achieving net-zero. At the same time, their complex, heterogeneous, multiscale, and uncertain nature presents major challenges for modelling, prediction, monitoring, and decision-making, particularly in multiphysics and multiscale model coupling, data integration, and real-time monitoring and control.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and scientific machine learning (SciML) are creating new opportunities to address these challenges. This session aims to bring together researchers from geoscience, hydrology, subsurface energy, computational science, and AI to discuss recent advances at the interface between these fields. We invite contributions on the development and application of AI and SciML methods for subsurface energy and environmental systems. Topics include, but are not limited to, physics-informed machine learning, neural operators, reduced-order modelling, surrogate and generative modelling, multimodal data fusion, digital twins, explainable and trustworthy AI, large language models, and agentic AI.
The session will provide a platform for interdisciplinary exchange on emerging methods, practical applications, current limitations, and future research directions.

Earth Observation (EO) offers a powerful means of monitoring changes in climate, ecosystems, and human environments at both global and local scales. These observations generate a wide array of climate and environmental variables, and they are delivered as Analysis-Ready Data (ARD). While ARD is globally accessible and scientifically robust, it might lack the specificity and contextual relevance required to effectively address local challenges. To bridge this gap, ARD must be transformed into Action-Ready Information (ARI): tailored data products and insights that support local decision-making and reflect community priorities. This transformation depends on co-creation, a collaborative process involving local communities, scientists, engineers, policymakers, and private sector stakeholders. For example, by integrating satellite EO with locally collected data from ground, water, and airborne platforms, we can enhance data granularity, validate satellite outputs, and generate customized, equitable, and actionable solutions. This session will explore how data can be harnessed to support environmental monitoring, local climate mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development. It will emphasize the importance of identifying gaps between global datasets and local needs, and present strategies to close these gaps through innovation (e.g. new technologies and open FAIR science), inclusive engagement, and capacity building. Economic and policy dimensions will also be addressed, including the sustainability of community-led initiatives, the role of citizen science, funding mechanisms, and scalable technologies that enhance data utility for local solutions. The practical implementation challenges confronting policymakers when seeking to engage with EO data, particularly in the context of constrained policy capacities, will also be discussed. We invite participants from across/around the EO ecosystem: researchers in both physical and social sciences, community leaders, and stakeholders from policy and business sectors. We do not limit us only to satellite EO. We do consider non-EO observations and data, and their applications. We will share case studies, identify synergies between global and local efforts, and co-create knowledge that informs both local action and global strategies. By synthesizing diverse experiences, this session aims to advance EO as a tool for addressing the interconnected climate and environmental challenges we face locally and globally.

Science informed policy making has been successful in the past on multiple levels: Academic findings in the fields of energy and resources have contributed to the shaping of European frameworks such as the EU renewable-energy targets or the Circular Economy Action Plan. On national levels, scientists have shaped policy with their expertise as can be seen across Europe. Cities and communities base their policies on the direct input of scientists to shape their living spaces.
Over the last 25 years, since the ERE division’s creation, scientific research spanning renewable energy, raw materials and resources and geo-storage have generated knowledge relevant to policy makers. From the European Union to national and institutional policies we see an impactful contribution of scientists. This session features the research and different pathways in which science has contributed to a variety of policy levels. We will explore how scientific research has shaped energy and resource-use policies across scales. A special focus will be put to the communication and transition of scientific findings into policy.

Geoscientific studies are essential for the imaging of buried archaeological sites and for identifying internal structure and condition of historic buildings. They provide important information on the properties, weathering, and degradation of building materials (natural stone, bricks, mortars, ceramics, concrete), as well as on moisture and fluid transport. Geoscientific methods can also be used to evaluate the dynamic properties and structural response of historic structures and to reconstruct their deterioration and damage history, including the identification and interpretation of earthquake-related damage. Such approaches contribute to understanding the long-term evolution of archaeological and built heritage and support the planning and evaluation of conservation and restoration measures.
This session welcomes contributions showcasing the application of geosciences to the following topics: (i) properties, provenance, production, use, and durability of historical materials; (ii) weathering processes, micro-fracturing, structural decay, and reconstruction of deterioration and damage processes ; (iii) fluid transport, propagation of evaporation fronts, and salt crystallization mechanics in porous media; (iv) high-resolution, non-destructive testing and monitoring including the assessment of dynamic properties and structural response; (v) imaging and identification of buried archaeological sites; (vi) impact of environmental variables, microclimatic fluctuations, and climate change on porous geomaterials outdoors, indoors, underground, or underwater; (vii) identification and reconstruction of earthquake-induced damage and its integration with archaeoseismological investigations; (viii) integration of theoretical geomorphological concepts into practical strategies, adaptation measures, and materials for conservation and restoration; (ix) hardware/software design for collecting and processing compositional, structural, dynamic, and environmental databases.

Art makes use of materials of geological origin: stones, pigments, mortars, metals, etc.; geology, in turn, has been depicted in various ways in art throughout art history; geosciences present their observations and discoveries in a visual form that can be regarded as an artistic expression. The entanglements of art and natural sciences are multiple, bidirectional, and have given rise to hybrid fields of research: Technical Art History, considering the materiality of artworks; archaeometry exploiting the intrinsic information contained in the artistic matter to trace back its origin and fates; Eco-critical art history, which draws on the environmental dimension of works of art – such as historical landscape painting – to critically explore the history of the environment and its changes.
In this session, we aim for a rich and diverse transdisciplinary dialogue of colleagues with multiple backgrounds and thus welcome a broad range of contributions in fields such as:
- Geosciences in artistic representation, e.g. as sources to study environmental changes, as indicators of the evolution of symbolic and scientific perception of geological objects and phenomena, natural hazards, etc.
- Artwork materials and their transformations over time as physical/chemical repositories or archives of environmental history, including air, water and soil pollution (e.g. stone degradation in urban areas)
- Geomaterials (stone, pigments, metals, precious stones) used in works of art (sculptures, metal objects, paintings, jewellery, etc.) and their intrinsic properties as an indicator of provenance or as a criterion of authenticity; the conservation issues specific to these materials.
- Artistic production and networks in geological landscapes with indigenous/local artistic use of geomaterials, artist migration to geo-resource-rich regions, transport of geomaterials to artistic centres, artistic geomaterials as indicators of power and prestige…

Sitting under a tree, you feel the spark of an idea, and suddenly everything falls into place. The following days and tests confirm: you have made a magnificent discovery — so the classical story of scientific genius goes…

But science as a human activity is error-prone, and might be more adequately described as "trial and error". Handling mistakes and setbacks is therefore a key skill of scientists. Yet, we publish only those parts of our research that did work. That is also because a study may have better chances to be accepted for scientific publication if it confirms an accepted theory or reaches a positive result (publication bias). Conversely, the cases that fail in their test of a new method or idea often end up in a drawer (which is why publication bias is also sometimes called the "file drawer effect"). This is potentially a waste of time and resources within our community, as other scientists may set about testing the same idea or model setup without being aware of previous failed attempts.

Thus, we want to turn the story around, and ask you to share 1) those ideas that seemed magnificent but turned out not to be, and 2) the errors, bugs, and mistakes in your work that made the scientific road bumpy. In the spirit of open science and in an interdisciplinary setting, we want to bring the BUGS out of the drawers and into the spotlight. What ideas were torn down or did not work, and what concepts survived in the ashes or were robust despite errors?

We explicitly solicit Blunders, Unexpected Glitches, and Surprises (BUGS) from modeling and field or lab experiments and from all disciplines of the Geosciences.

In a friendly atmosphere, we will learn from each other’s mistakes, understand the impact of errors and abandoned paths on our work, give each other ideas for shared problems, and generate new insights for our science or scientific practice.

Here are some ideas for contributions that we would love to see:
- Ideas that sounded good at first, but turned out to not work.
- Results that presented themselves as great in the first place but turned out to be caused by a bug or measurement error.
- Errors and slip-ups that resulted in insights.
- Failed experiments and negative results.
- Obstacles and dead ends you found and would like to warn others about.

For inspiration, see the collection of BUGS - ranging from clay bricks to atmospheric temperature extremes - at https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/session/52496

A surprising visual can make us pause, notice a pattern, or ask a question we had never considered. How can we bring that potential into the way we explore and communicate data?

This session invites creative, unconventional, still-in-the-works, and carefully crafted approaches to data visualisation. We are interested in work that combines imagination with clarity: visuals that reveal relationships, communicate uncertainty, tell compelling stories, and invite audiences to explore. Contributions may address scientific discovery, education, public engagement, or decision-making at the interface of environment and society.

We welcome experiments with visual storytelling, animation, interactive exploration, hand-drawn graphics, physical data objects, immersive experiences, and combinations of visualisation with sound or touch. How can familiar datasets take unfamiliar forms? When does playful design deepen understanding? How can we make complex information accessible while preserving its nuance?

Scientists, designers, artists, educators, and communicators are invited to share methods, examples, collaborations, and lessons from experiments (including those that did not work as expected). We aim to inspire new ways of seeing data and offer practical ideas participants can bring into their own research and communication.

Despite unprecedented scientific understanding of the environmental system, translating environmental science knowledge into sustained societal action remains a major challenge. More than a decade after Stoknes (2014) described this as a psychological paradox, ecological crises are intensifying while environmental protection continues to compete with other societal priorities. Science communication research has shown that communicating more scientific facts, more clearly or more frequently, is not sufficient on its own.
Environmental science communication is consequently undergoing experimentation and transformation. Alongside established approaches, researchers are exploring storytelling, emotions, humor, aesthetics, identities, popular culture, participatory practices and novel visual formats. Digital platforms have accelerated these developments, creating spaces where scientific knowledge intersects with internet culture, entertainment, influencer practices and vernacular communication. Innovative approaches are also emerging beyond social media, including through museums, art-science initiatives, journalism and innovative institutional communication.
These developments raise questions about how environmental science communication is changing. How are communicators adapting to changing media environments and audiences? Which actors and practices are driving innovation? How are emotions, identities, aesthetics, humour and storytelling incorporated into environmental communication, and how do these approaches interact with traditional information-centred models? How are scientific institutions and researchers responding?
This session invites contributions studying and engaging with emerging forms of environmental science communication. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary research connecting environmental science with communication studies, social sciences, humanities, arts and design.

Topics may include:
• novel approaches to communicating environmental science;
• emotions, identities, aesthetics, storytelling and humor;
• visual, creative and artistic approaches;
• social media, short-form video and influencers;
• popular culture, memes and entertainment;
• participatory approaches;
• communication targeting younger audiences;
• institutional responses to changing communication environments;
• critical perspectives on the ethics and power relations of environmental communication;