Watch: 'Two For A Few' With IGS Engineers Victor Pimentel and Vinicius Benjamim

Sustainability as a game-changer for geosynthetics investment in Latin America is discussed in the latest 'Two for a Few' video.

Victor Pimentel, Past President of IGS Brazil, and Vinicius Benjamim, Technical Director at ENG Consultoria e Projetos, discuss aspects of their recent Zornberg Lecture, themed 'Contrasts and opportunities for geosynthetics in the Americas'.

The pair delivered their joint address at the 5^th GeoAmericas conference, which took place in Toronto, Canada, in April, this year.

Here, they asked how the two contrasting regions of North America and Latin America could mutually create value through the use of geosynthetics, and suggested sustainability was a game-changer for Latin America in terms of opportunities and investment.

They argued while the US and Canada owned most of the technologies, Latin America had the conditions to use them effectively in a sustainable way. For example, the US needs to offset CO₂ and Latin America offers carbon credit opportunities, or Latin America's sunny climate provides a good opportunity to implement geosynthetics optimizing solar energy.

They concluded: 'Sustainability with geosynthetics in the Americas is a win-win situation, and Latin American countries [are] clearly able to help the world achieve its commitments."

Their 'Two for a Few' chat expands on aspects from the lecture, and highlights how the work of the IGS and IGS Foundation are key to improving global understanding and education on these issues.

** Watch another 'Two for a Few' chat from GeoAmericas2024 here, where IGS North America President Elect Kristin Sample-Lord speaks to IGS Diversity lead Laura Carbone on the IGS's path to boost diversity and inclusion.