Recently, the 9th Zhejiang Provincial Conference on Geotechnical Mechanics and Engineering, themed "Sustainable Development of Geotechnical Engineering under Green and Low-Carbon Goals," was successfully held in Quzhou. The conference was hosted by the Provincial Society for Geotechnical Mechanics and Engineering and jointly organized by Quzhou University, the Quzhou Association for Science and Technology, and the Society's Professional Committee on Protection of Ancient Underground Works. It brought together more than 300 renowned experts, scholars, and engineering elites from within and outside the province, including Xie Shucheng, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Du Shigui, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to discuss frontier topics and development directions in the field of geotechnical engineering.

      An award ceremony was also held during the opening session, honoring the recipients of the 4th "Zeng Guoxi Geotechnical Engineering Award" and the 12th "Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Award for Geotechnical Mechanics and Engineering," as well as the Society's outstanding branch institutions for 2025.

      The academic reporting session of the conference was rich in content and cutting-edge in perspective. Academicians Xie Shucheng and Du Shigui delivered keynote reports entitled "Microbial Geotechnical Engineering" and "Deep Mining of Open-Pit Mines," respectively, revealing new possibilities for the development of geotechnical engineering from the perspectives of macro strategy and frontier science. Professor Zhang Tuqiao and Professor Wang Lizhong of Zhejiang University delivered invited reports on "Intelligent Operation and Maintenance of Urban Underground Pipe Networks" and "Disaster Mechanisms of Wind Power Foundation Structures in Typhoon Sea Areas," respectively, focusing on major national needs and engineering challenges. Multiple experts and scholars shared a series of innovative research results and engineering technical solutions on hot and difficult issues such as soft soil stratum development, construction of pumped-storage power stations, protection of ancient underground caverns, and urban tunnel engineering.