Congress Committee
AFTES is holding its 18th Congress from October 12 to 14, 2026 at the Grand Palais in Lille. Every 3 years, this is the must-attend event for underground specialists, bringing together project owners, engineers, architects, town planners, contractors and suppliers, safety and insurance professionals, and more.
The main theme of this year’s event is to highlight the extent to which the underground sector can provide an appropriate response to the many challenges of our time:
"New Challenges, Underground Solutions
CALL FOR PAPERS
Submission deadline: June 30, 2025, 11:59 p.m.
An eagerly awaited event!
The Congress is a major highlight for the Association and the profession as a whole. The Congress is held over three days, in a major city with the necessary capacity to accommodate the growing number of participants. (Recent editions have attracted several thousand attendees).
An exhibition, conferences, special sessions, site tours, student competitions, receptions and gala evenings all feature in this event, which is eagerly awaited by all tunnelling and underground space professionals.
Click on this link to visit the 2026 Congress website : https://aftes2026.com
A forum for meetings and dialogue
The wide exposure offered by the event provides opportunities for general contractors, engineering firms, equipment and product manufacturers as well as contracting authorities, architects, designers and all industry stakeholders to showcase their expertise, recent projects and latest innovations. The Congress is widely considered to be a great place to meet up and share information and knowledge.
Attendees appreciate the rich and varied conference schedule. Over the three days of the Congress, against the backdrop of a general theme, speakers present the latest domestic and international achievements, specialist research findings and cutting-edge innovations. As well as oral presentations in conference rooms, contributions may be made in the form of posters or written articles compiled on an electronic medium.
The event has a very international flavour, with support from the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) and industry associations based in neighbouring countries, such as the European Underground and Tunnel Forum (EUTF).
Meticulous organisation
To successfully stage and manage the congress, an Organising Committee is formed, assisted by a scientific committee tasked with selecting conferences and articles, and with logistics support from professional event organisers. This Committee, set up at least three years before the date of the Congress, quickly submits its proposed choice of host city to the AFTES Board of Directors.
Composition of the 2026 Congress Committee
Organising committee
| Name | Function |
|---|---|
Philippe MILLARD | Congress Chairman |
Florent ROBERT | Congress Deputy Chairman |
Michel PRÉ | Scientific Committee – Programme |
Emmanuel HUMBERT | Scientific Committee – Programme |
Sakina MOHAMED | Administration, accounts |
Denis BRANQUE | Students and Training |
Morgane BERTRAND | Youth and Training |
Lou CARON | Youth and Training |
Operational advisors
Working Group Information
| Name | Function |
|---|---|
Anne BRISSAUD | Communication |
Maurice GUILLAUD | Editor of the magazine TES “Spécial Congrès” |
Nicolas BERTHOZ | Photo contest – Special issue of TES magazine |
Aurélien ESPINOZA | Photo contest |
COLIL 2026 – Organising Committee
Every three years, AFTES organises an international congress attended by contracting authorities, designers, builders, equipment suppliers and underground structure operators, engineers, architects and urban planners, all interested in expanding and optimising the use of underground space, particularly in urban environments.
Theme: 2025-2026 Congress
President: Philippe Millard
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CONFERENCES
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REGISTRATION
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