8th Slovenian Geotechnical Conference and 24th Šuklje Day

Geotechnics facing the challenges of climate change

1st – 3rd October 2025 at the Rogaška Congress Centre in Rogaška Slatina

Dear colleagues!
We kindly invite you to the main event of our society – the 8th Conference of Slovenian Geotechnicians and the 24th Šuklje Day, which will take place from 1st to 3rd October 2025 at the Rogaška Congress Centre in Rogaška Slatina.

The central theme of the 8th conference is “Geotechnics facing the challenges of climate change” – climate change is increasingly affecting geotechnical approaches that must be taken into account when planning and constructing infrastructure and other facilities. Geotechnics is facing new challenges and opportunities – from sustainable environmental management and the reuse of materials to reducing the impact of construction on ecosystems. The progress of modern technologies, digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning open up new possibilities for more accurate modeling, faster data analysis and project optimization. Current topics will be presented, such as the use of geothermal energy as a sustainable source of heat, the interdisciplinary integration of geotechnics with other fields, the new generation of Eurocodes and standards, and the role of geotechnics in ensuring the safety of transport infrastructure and the seismic resistance of structures. Special attention will also be paid to determining the properties of soils and rocks, challenges in the construction of tunnels and deep excavations, and the sustainable use of geosynthetics.

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to presentations of the conference contributions. The series of presentations will be opened by ISSMGE Vice President for Europe Prof. Lyesse Laloui with an invited lecture entitled: “Revolutionizing Foundations: Advances in Thermo-Active Piling Engineering”, which, given the topic of the conference, is the best possible introduction to the three-day event. Let us also highlight an important foreign guest, Prof. Loretta Batali, who will present the New generation of Eurocodes, technical specifications and standards in geotechnics as part of a round table discussion.

The 24th Šuklje Day, our traditional professional meeting, will take place this time on October 2, 2025 in the afternoon part of the program. The main Šuklje lecture will be given by Prof. Matthew Coop (University College London) entitled “From Continuum to Particulate Mechanics in Coarse Grained Soils”, with an emphasis on the transition from continuum approaches (FEM) to modeling coarse-grained soils using the discrete element method (DEM), with selected examples from practice and a view on the future of laboratory testing in geotechnics.

The invited local lecturers are:

– Dr. Rok Varga (UM FGPA): “Optimal design of geothermal piles” and

– Dr. Galena Debevec Jordanova (MNVP): “Use of InSAR for monitoring the stability of slopes and structures”

You are kindly invited to attend the event, exchange experiences, and contribute to the development of geotechnical engineering in a time of new challenges and opportunities!

Program

1st OCTOBER 2025
08:00 – 09:00	Registration
09:00 – 10:00	Opening ceremony of the 8th Slovenian Geotechnical Conference
10:00 – 11:00	Invited lecture prof. dr. Lyesse LALOUI: Revolutionizing Foundations: Advances in Thermo-Active Piling Engineering
11:00 – 11:30	Break (exhibition)
11:30 – 13:00	Presentation of papers with discussion
13:00 – 14:30	Lunch (exhibition)
14:30 – 16:00	Presentation of papers with discussion
16:00 – 16:30	Break (exhibition)
16:30 – 18:00	Presentation of papers with discussion
19:00	Reception

*2nd OCTOBER 2025*
09:00 – 10:30	Presentation of papers with discussion
10:30 – 11:00	Break (exhibition)
11:00 – 12:30	Round table discussion – prof. Loretta Batali: New generation of Eurocodes, technical specifications and standards in geotechnics
12:30 – 13:00	Closing ceremony of the 8th Slovenian Geotechnical Conference
13:00 – 14:30	Lunch (exhibition)
*24. Šuklje day*
14:30 – 14:45	Opening ceremony of 24. Šuklje day
14:45 – 15:45	Šuklje lecture – prof. Matthew Coop: From Continuum to Particulate Mechanics in Coarse Grained Soils
16:00 – 16:30	dr. Rok Varga (UM FGPA): Optimization of geothermal piles design
16:30 – 17:00	dr. Galena Debevec Jordanova (MNVP): Using InSAR to monitor slope and structure stability
17:00 – 17:30	Break (exhibition)
17:30 – 18:30	Slovenian geotechnical society members’ meeting – Presentation of the society’s activities 2024/2025 General report – Suzana Svetličič ISSMGE report – dr. Janko Logar ISRM report – dr. Vojkan Jovičić IAEG report – dr. Timotej Verbovšek IGS report – dr. Slavko Lenart
18:30 – 18:40	Conference conclusion
18:40 – 19:10	IGS section members’ meeting
20:00	Celebration dinner

*3rd OCTOBER 2025*
09:30 – 14:00	Technical excursion
—————	—————————————————————————————————————————————————