Happy New Year, and welcome to the January edition of AGS Magazine. I hope you all had the opportunity to take a well‑earned break over the festive period and are feeling refreshed for the year ahead. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to all members who joined the AGS during 2025—we’re delighted to have you as part of our community.

This issue features a collaborative article from the AGS Contaminated Land Working Group, AGS Data Management Working Group, and AGS Instrumentation & Monitoring Working Group, exploring the key requirements for robust ground gas monitoring and how to report acquired data in AGS format. It is both timely and practical, reminding us that data is not merely a technical output, but a responsibility: a commitment to clarity, comparability, and decisions we can stand behind.

Sustainability remains a strong focus this month, with articles on Building a Sustainable Future with Foundation Reuse and A Greenprint for Change: The AGS Sustainability Route Map, both highlighting actionable pathways toward a more resilient, resource‑efficient industry. These pieces challenge us to look beyond compliance, and toward stewardship, designing not only for performance today, but for legacy tomorrow.

Bradley Falcus reflects on the current standing of our industry and considers the AGS’s next steps in supporting a more inclusive and representative future for geotechnical and geoenvironmental practice. Inclusion is not ancillary to excellence; it is a source of insight and better judgement. When we widen the circle, we strengthen the profession.

What we build is measured in metres and sites; what we leave behind is measured in trust.
Our foundations are not just in the ground—they are in our values.

We also have several upcoming events that I encourage you to attend: the Instrumentation and Monitoring – Data Driven Actions webinar on 19th February 2026, followed by the AGS Annual Conference at One Great George Street, London, on 19th March 2026. I hope to see many of you there.

Finally, entries for the AGS Early Careers Poster Competition, focusing on the top five industry insights, remain open until 30th January 2026. Please do share this with your teams and networks—supporting early career voices is one of the most meaningful investments we can make.

Thank you for your continued commitment to the AGS and to the communities we serve. Here’s to a year of thoughtful decisions, rigorous practice, and purposeful impact.