The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) has announced that its flagship National Conference 2026 will take place in London on 18 March 2026, bringing together senior leaders, policymakers and technical specialists to explore how the sector can move from risk to resilience.

Following a sell-out event in 2025, the conference will examine the practical and technical measures required to strengthen the resilience of the UK’s highways, transportation and infrastructure networks in the face of climate change, extreme weather, ageing assets, financial constraints and rising demand.

Sue Percy CBE, Chief Executive, CIHT, said:

“Our transport networks are increasingly exposed to complex and interconnected risks — from climate impacts and asset deterioration to funding pressures and changing travel patterns. Building resilience requires more than reactive interventions; it demands robust data, proportionate standards, whole-life approaches and collaboration across organisational boundaries."

"The CIHT National Conference 2026 will provide a critical platform for technical leaders and decision-makers to share evidence, challenge established practices and focus on the practical actions needed to embed resilience and adaptation into how we plan, operate and invest in our networks for the long term.”

Hosted at 1 Basinghall Avenue, City of London, the one-day conference will focus on how organisations can better identify, assess and manage systemic risk, embed resilience into planning, design and operations, and adopt long-term, data-led approaches to network management.

Sessions will explore topics including:

• Climate adaptation and mitigation, including responses to flooding, high winds, heat stress and slope instability
• Resilient asset management, using predictive maintenance, digital technologies and whole-life cost modelling
• Network performance and reliability, addressing community severance, including diversionary planning and recovery from disruption
• Governance, funding and decision-making, aligning short-term investment cycles with long-term resilience outcomes
• Skills and capability, ensuring the profession is equipped to deliver resilient infrastructure in practice

The conference theme, “From Risk to Resilience”, recognises that traditional, asset-by-asset approaches are no longer sufficient. Instead, the sector must adopt systems-based thinking, integrating engineering, operations, policy and user needs to ensure transport networks can anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from shocks and stresses.

Delegates will hear from senior figures across government, local authorities and industry, including a keynote address from Simon Lightwood MP, Minister for Roads and Buses, alongside practitioners delivering resilience on the ground through planning, design, maintenance and operations.

The CIHT National Conference 2026 is delivered with the generous support of industry partners. Ringway is the Headline Sponsor, with Carrington West, Brightly Software, Kier, WJ Group and Matchtech supporting the conference as Supporting Sponsors. Their involvement reflects a shared commitment to strengthening the resilience, performance and long-term sustainability of the UK’s transport networks.

The CIHT National Conference is recognised as one of the UK’s leading events for highways and transportation professionals, offering high-level strategic insight combined with practical technical learning, CPD opportunities and peer-to-peer exchange. Early Bird tickets are now available, with strong demand expected.

For more information and to book your place, visit:

www.ciht.org.uk/event/national-conference-2026

Notes for editors

• Resilience in highways and transportation refers to the ability of networks to anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from disruption, while continuing to operate safely and reliably. This includes physical assets, operational processes and organisational decision-making.
• Resilience goes beyond traditional risk management by addressing both short-term shocks (such as flooding, heatwaves and incidents) and long-term stresses including climate change, asset ageing and funding constraints.
• Climate adaptation focuses on reducing the vulnerability of transport infrastructure to current and future climate impacts, including improved drainage and flood management, materials suited to higher temperatures and enhanced slope stability.
• Modern resilience approaches increasingly rely on data-led, whole-life asset management, using risk-based prioritisation, predictive maintenance and systems thinking to target investment where it delivers the greatest benefit.
• Building resilient transport networks is critical to maintaining safety, reliability and economic connectivity, particularly as weather-related disruption becomes more frequent and severe.

Please contact e: communications@ciht.org.uk for more information