Collaboration without borders at 2026 World Tunnel Congress

The mining and tunneling industries continue to face mounting pressure to deliver increasingly complex infrastructure projects and to do so with a shrinking pool of experienced professionals. During the World Tunnel Congress (WTC) in Montreal, Canada May 15-20, I witnessed a shared sense that no nation, company or association will solve the complex workforce challenge alone. The congress, hosted by the Tunnelling Association of Canada (TAC) under the umbrella of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA), drew nearly 2,900 participants from 66 countries. The conference included 657 presentations and 231 exhibitors. Many of the presentations focused on the growing importance of international collaboration as the tunneling industry confronts a generational workforce transition in much the same way as the global mining industry. These challenges are made more complex against the backdrop of an aging workforce, fierce competition for technically skilled labor, and a need to retrain employees as digitalization, automation and artificial intelligence rapidly reshape operations underground. Tunneling and mining both depend on highly specialized engineering expertise. Both operate in difficult underground environments where safety culture and institutional knowledge are paramount. And both increasingly require workers who can bridge traditional field experience with advanced technologies ranging from remote systems to digital modeling and automation. According to Sanja Zlatanic, vice president, executive council ITA-AITES, U.S. representative of UCA in the ITA executive committee, international collaboration such as WTC is indispensable precisely because these challenges are global in scale. “No single country or organization has all the answers,” Zlatanic told me. “International collaboration enables the industry to avoid repeating mistakes, advance best practices faster, and improve project delivery through shared experience and peer learning.” In terms of the workforce challenges, Zlatanic said, “international collaboration plays a critical role in attracting and retaining the next generation of tunneling professionals. It exposes young engineers and emerging leaders to a much broader vision of the industry — demonstrating that tunneling is far more than construction alone. It is a highly sophisticated, technology-driven field that directly supports sustainable cities, resilient infrastructure, mobility systems, water security, energy transition and climate adaptation on a global scale.” Companies working in the tunneling and mining industries find themselves competing for geotechnical engineers, ventilation specialists, automation experts, data analysts and project managers capable of working in increasingly sophisticated underground environments. What events such as WTC provide is a mechanism for accelerated shared learning. International forums allow industries to exchange lessons on training systems, safety culture, digital implementation, mentorship programs and knowledge transfer strategies before hard-earned expertise disappears through retirement. One of the more striking themes emerging from WTC was the recognition that workforce recruitment is no longer simply a human resources issue. It has become an industry-wide reputational challenge. Attracting engineers, operators and skilled trades increasingly depends on whether younger workers view underground industries as innovative, globally connected and mission-driven professions. Helen Roth, executive director of ITA, emphasized that recruitment and retention cannot be solved by individual countries working independently. “This is one of the most important issues facing our industry today,” Roth told me. “Recruiting and retaining a qualified workforce is not a challenge for one country alone; it is a global issue, and it must be addressed collectively.” That collective approach extends beyond conferences. Organizations such as ITA and SME are increasingly focused on international training initiatives, knowledge transfer programs and professional development pathways designed to create continuity between generations of underground professionals. North America alone is entering a period of major underground infrastructure expansion, including transportation tunnels, water systems, energy projects and mine development at time when experienced personnel continue retiring faster than new talent enters the workforce. International collaboration cannot eliminate that shortage overnight. But it can shorten learning curves, expose younger professionals to broader career opportunities and help industries avoid reinventing solutions independently.

Collaboration without borders at 2026 World Tunnel Congress

Authored by: William Gleason

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