Conference Monitoring 2026

We are pleased to announce the MONITORING2026 – 1st Lusophone Conference on Infrastructure Monitoring and Sustainability, organised by Universidade Lusófona, to be held on 15 January 2026. This event aims to establish itself as a meeting point for researchers, lecturers, students, technicians, and public and private organisations with an interest in monitoring applied to different types of infrastructure.

Objectives and Scope

With a cross-cutting and multidisciplinary character, MONITORING2026 aims to:

• Promote technical and scientific debate on current and future challenges in monitoring;
• Encourage the sharing of knowledge across different areas of civil engineering;
• Strengthen connections between academia, companies and public bodies operating in this field.

The conference will cover areas such as:

• Structures and construction
• Hydraulics and coastal engineering
• Geotechnics and instrumentation
• Materials and durability
• Sustainability of the built environment
• Transport infrastructures
• Digital and emerging technologies

Format

• Scientific presentations
• Technical sessions with companies
• Institutional debates with leading national and Lusophone organisations

Organisation

• Universidade Lusófona
  • Márcia Lima (CUP)
  • Nuno Correia dos Santos (CUP)
  • Flávio Arrais (CUP)
  • Elói Figueiredo (CUL)

Extended Scope

MONITORING2026 – 1st Lusophone Conference on Infrastructure Monitoring and Sustainability, organised by Universidade Lusófona, aims to establish itself as a meeting point for researchers, lecturers, students, technicians, and public and private organisations with an interest in monitoring applied to different infrastructures.

With a transversal character, the event will address multiple domains such as building structures, geotechnics, hydraulics, materials, the built environment and transport infrastructures, promoting the sharing of technical and scientific knowledge, as well as debate on current and future challenges in this field.

Extended Objectives

• Bring together the technical and scientific community dedicated to monitoring, promoting the exchange of experience and knowledge between academia, industry and regulatory bodies.
• Disseminate case studies, projects and best practices in the monitoring of structures and infrastructures, encouraging continuous improvement in safety, durability and efficiency.
• Discuss the role of technological innovation, namely the use of sensors, intelligent systems, remote instrumentation, data analysis and artificial intelligence, in management and monitoring.
• Foster multidisciplinary approaches, creating synergies between different engineering specialisations and encouraging collaboration between institutions and sectors.
• Stimulate research and development (R&D), giving visibility to academic work, applied research projects and technical-scientific cooperation initiatives.
• Highlight the role of universities and research centres in training qualified professionals and supporting the modernisation of monitoring practices.

Event Presentation

MONITORING2026 – 1st Lusophone Conference on Infrastructure Monitoring and Sustainability, organised by Universidade Lusófona, aims to establish itself as a meeting point for researchers, lecturers, students, technicians, and public and private organisations with an interest in monitoring applied to different infrastructures.

With a cross-cutting and multidisciplinary character, the event seeks to promote the sharing of technical and scientific knowledge, as well as debate on current and future challenges in monitoring, in a context marked by the need for greater safety, resilience and sustainability of the built environment.

The MONITORING2026 programme reflects this thematic diversity through three main round tables, dedicated to key areas of civil engineering. The monitoring of the coastal zone of mainland Portugal will be addressed from an integrated perspective, bringing together contributions from academia, public bodies and the business sector, in a field of particular relevance for a country with significant coastal exposure. Intelligent monitoring applied to engineering and architecture, with a particular focus on buildings and the built heritage, will allow for discussion of innovative solutions, emerging technologies and relevant case studies. Finally, bridge monitoring will be debated as a strategic and technically demanding area, fundamental to the safety and management of transport infrastructures.

The opening session will include an institutional reflection on the state of monitoring in Portugal, promoted by the Ordem dos Engenheiros, as well as a keynote lecture dedicated to structural monitoring and SHM, establishing the technical and scientific framework for the debates throughout the day.

From its very first edition, these Conferences adopt a Lusophone vocation, expressed not only in their name but also in the ambition to create a space for dialogue and cooperation between countries of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). The participation of speakers from Angola and Brazil in this edition represents a first step in this journey, which is intended to be consolidated and expanded in future editions, strengthening academic, institutional and professional networks within the Lusophone space.

MONITORING2026 thus emerges as a forum for reflection and sharing, but also as a starting point for a broader community dedicated to infrastructure monitoring and sustainability, from a technical, scientific and Lusophone perspective.

Programme

• 10:00 – Opening Session
• 11:00 – Round Table 1: Monitoring of the Coastal Zone of Mainland Portugal
• 12:40 – Lunch break
• 14:00 – Round Table 2: Intelligent Monitoring and the Future of Engineering and Architecture
• 15:40 – Round Table 3: Bridge Monitoring – From Innovation to Established Practice
• 17:00 – Closing Session