Engineers urged to rethink traditional approaches to infrastructure planning, delivery and sustainability amid challenges in South African municipalities.
As South African cities face ageing infrastructure, climate risks, growth pressures and budget constraints, the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) is calling on the municipal and civil engineering sector to rethink how infrastructure is planned, delivered and sustained.
The organisation has announced that its 2026 conference and exhibition, South Africa’s leading platform for the profession to learn, share knowledge and network, will be held under the theme “Blueprints Reimagined Judiciously”. Outlining the rationale, IMESA president Geoff Tooley says: “This theme reflects the imperative in today’s widely troubled municipalities to take existing plans, standards and long-established methods of designing public infrastructure and rethink them. This is not about disruption for its own sake, but about careful, responsible, evidence-based evolution to address the growing pressures on infrastructure systems, including ageing assets, climate challenges, rapid urbanisation and stretched municipal budgets.
“As municipalities grapple with increasingly complex demands, the need to revisit traditional approaches has never been more urgent,” he expands. “The theme underscores the importance of balancing innovation with proven engineering principles, ensuring that progress is both sustainable and resilient. Rather than abandoning established practices, we are urging engineering professionals to refine and adapt them, integrating new technologies, smarter planning and collaborative approaches to meet today’s local government and service delivery realities.”
This year, the IMESA Conference & Exhibition moves to Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, taking place from 28 to 30 October 2026. Conference registration opens in April, and IMESA invites all industry stakeholders – including engineers, municipal leaders, academics and private sector partners – to register early and ensure that they don’t miss the opportunity to help shape the future of South African cities and towns.
IMESA has issued a call for abstracts, inviting thought leaders, practitioners and researchers to contribute to this year’s programme. Submissions will be evaluated based on innovation, thought leadership, business value and alignment with the conference theme. The categories in which submissions are invited are:
- Buildings, structures and housing
- Ecological, environmental and social
- Electrical and electronic
- Financial, legal and regulatory
- Transport, roads and stormwater
- Water and sanitation
“We are putting together an impactful programme for 2026 that reflects the current challenges, emerging trends and practical solutions from across the sector. By sharing research, insights and case studies, contributors play a direct role in advancing our profession’s body of knowledge, improving service delivery and strengthening municipal engineering practices across Southern Africa,” Tooley says.
The deadline for abstract submissions is 10 April 2026.
Exhibitor packages and sponsorship opportunities for this year’s IMESA Conference & Exhibition have also been announced. With more than 800 delegates and over 80 exhibitors and sponsors participating in the 2025 IMESA Conference & Exhibition, Tooley notes that the event presents a valuable opportunity for companies to connect with a highly targeted audience of municipal decision-makers and engineering professionals.
“As municipalities increasingly seek innovative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions, the exhibition floor at the annual IMESA Conference provides an important space for showcasing products, services and technologies that can make a tangible impact.”
Since its founding in 1961, IMESA has been committed to advancing excellence in infrastructure engineering and supporting the professionals who drive it. The 89th IMESA Conference & Exhibition continues this mission, fostering informed dialogue, encouraging innovation and equipping the sector to meet the challenges of the future.
