We are honoured to welcome you to the Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition 2021 in Bordeaux, France. Under the auspices of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, three conferences will take place in parallel: the 27^th European Meeting of Environment and Engineering Geophysics, the 1^st Conference on Hydrogeophysics and the 2^nd Conference on Geophysics for Infrastructure Planning, Monitoring and BIM.

France has a long history with geophysics, as the homeland of great scientists such as René Descartes, Pierre Bouguer, the Schlumberger brothers and Louis Cagniard who brought significant insights to geophysics. Geophysicists are now present all around the country in numerous laboratories. The University of Bordeaux, established 1445, is one of the oldest in Europe. The faculty of Earth sciences originally grew on the work of geologists and palaeontologists from the late 1830’s, such as Giacinto di Collegno and F. Daguin. For 60 years, research domains such as archaeology, prehistoric sciences, oceanography and petroleum engineering have been expanding at the University. Within the last 50 years, engineering geology and geophysics also emerged as an active research area in Bordeaux.

The city of Bordeaux is certainly a good choice, since it’s been ranked the world’s best city on the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2017 list. Bordeaux is in the south-west of France, along the Garonne River close to the Atlantic Ocean. The city is an ancient and growing town that faces the challenge of staying in harmony with both culture heritage and natural resources sustainability. It is an inhabited historic city, with an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the age of Antiquity and expanded in the Enlightenment. Bordeaux, thanks to its Port of the Moon, is listed as a Unesco world heritage city.

Capital of the Nouvelle Aquitaine, the city of Bordeaux is associated with famous vineyards, gastronomy, long sand beaches, and prehistoric sites offering you the opportunity to benefit from studious moments and sightseeing. Weather conditions in September are very pleasant. The LAC has selected special field trips such as wine and geology, coastal processes, Lascaux site and research workshops to widen your knowledge spectrum.

We expect a large participation of scientists from universities and industries all focused on networking opportunities and cross-fertilisation between geology, geophysics, hydrology, geotechnics, civil engineering, natural hazards, raw materials, energy science. Key academic and industrial actors located nearby will attract others for fruitful discussions and collaborations. The area as a breeding ground will offer the opportunity to exhibitors, speakers and visitors to display and exchange their latest products, research and discoveries. Field method demonstrations will also take place. The young geoscientists’ generation, represented by students, will close the gap between classical and emergent key issues along with all disruptive situations such as climate change.

In addition to the technical sessions and exhibition, an amazing social program will be organised, including a dinner evening, that will offer you a taste of south-western France. We hope that attending the Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition 2021 will stay in your memory for decades.

We are looking forward to welcoming you in 2021 in Bordeaux!