News, May 2026
94th ICOLD Annual meeting, Guadalajara, Mexico, 21-29.05 2026
The 94th ICOLD Annual Meeting was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, from May 21 to May 29, 2026.
Numerous presentations addressing key topics were delivered during the ICOLD annual meeting. Albania was represented by Mr. Arjan Jovani—President of EURCOLD and former Chairman of the ALBCOLD and Mr. Ermal Kacurri, a ALBCOLD member and Dam Safety Director at APC. The meeting sessions also featured two presentations by young Albanian experts, Engineer Erjon Qosja and Anida Zeqirllari, which were received with great interest by the participants.
During this major event, attended by over 1,500 participants, technical sessions were organized by ICOLD’s 30 working groups. More than 300 technical papers were presented covering the dam and reservoir sector, as well as issues related to embankments, social aspects, and public safety in the context of dam operations.
On May 24, a meeting of the European Regional Club (EURCOLD) board was held, chaired by the club’s President, Mr. Arjan Jovani, and Secretary General, Mr. Alfredo Granadas. The meeting was attended by the ICOLD President and the two ICOLD Vice-Presidents for Europe. During the meeting, several priorities and activities for EURCOLD in 2026 were reviewed, such as: support for EURCOLD Working Groups (EWGs); cooperation with the 28 European National Committees on Large Dams and promotion of the dam sector; collaboration with all international stakeholders in the field; organization of the 2026 Dams and Reservoirs Day; support for and promotion of young dam engineers; participation in various projects involving European experts; discussions regarding the EURCOLD website; and the preparation of the annual EURCOLD Newsletter on dams and reservoirs. Additionally, preparations for the 13th EURCOLD Symposium, scheduled for September 2026 in Bydgoszcz, Poland, were discussed.
On May 28, 2026, the ICOLD General Assembly meeting was held, where the main topics to be addressed at the 29th ICOLD Congress in Madrid, Spain, were approved as follows:
- Question 112 – Rehabilitation and upgrading of old dams and embankments for long-term safety.
- Question 113 – Digitalization and modern technology for dam design, construction, monitoring, and operation.
- Question 114 – Dam safety, risk analysis, and emergency management.
- Question 115 – Dams for water storage and pumped-storage hydro power in the energy transition
During this meeting, Ms. Antonella Frigerio was elected as the new ICOLD Vice President for Europe, and it was decided that the 97th ICOLD annual meeting would be held in Sydney, Australia, May 2029.
More details about the activities organized at this event can be found on the website: www.icold-cigb.org
