Geosynthetics in Water Management Report from Prague 2003 – Ian Peggs, I-CORP INTERNATIONAL

Sam Allen, TRI and I recently gave a 4 hour workshop Geosynthetics in Water Management at the 6th International Symposium & Exhibition on Environmental Contamination in Central & Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States held in Prague. The workshop was sponsored by The Geosynthetics Materials Association (GMA) and was attended by 200 environmental professionals. In the workshop we addressed 1) Products and Functions 2) Applications 3) Design Considerations 4) Joining and CQA and 5) Testing and Resources. But the most interesting part of the workshop did not come from either Sam or me. The audience posed questions and revealed much more. Some of the questions/comments asked, “These are very interesting materials, why do we not know much more about them?”, and ” What is your industry doing to market them?!” It is clear we must do more to promote our technology to our potential end-users. After all, how can they use our materials if they are unaware of their existence?