From the perspective of humankind building development history, the 19th century was marked by bridge building and its development, and the 20th century was dominated by ground building and its development. However, for the new century, as predicted in the Tokyo Declaration in 1991 by the Associated Research Centers for Urban Underground Space (ACUUS): ‘The 21st century is the century of underground space development and utilization.’ In the past 30 years, underground engineering has been developing in a large scale, deeper stratum, complex environment and extensive field. Acquiring space, resources and security from underground is the inevitable demand and trend of the modernization development of all countries and regions in the world. High-quality development and sustainable utilization of underground space has become an international consensus.

International Conference on Exploration and Utilization of Underground Space (EUUS) was initiated by ACUUS Working Group on Urban Geology and Underground Space (ACUUS-GEO, based in Sino Probe Center) at the right time and strongly supported by related international societies and influential journals. It will develop into the most important continuing conference in the world on exploration and utilization of underground space, aiming to provide a platform for exchanging new experiences and discussing future developments on the High-quality development and sustainable utilization of underground space.

The EUUS2019 will be hosted by the Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IRSM-CAS) and State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (SKLGME), and co-organized by nearly 30 research institutes and enterprises. It will be a big party equipped with main conference, workshops, dialogue, short courses, and panel discussion to strengthen closer exchanges and cooperation among researchers, engineers, technicians, and managers with difference experience in the field of underground space and engineering. Besides, we are probably about to launch a new Declaration on sustainable development and utilization of underground space.

The main theme of EUUS2019 is ‘Collaborative Exploration and Sustainable Development of Underground Space’, which covers chain-type topics as follows:

High-resolution Investigation of Underground Space

Intelligent Modeling and Big Data Mining of Underground Space

Investigation of Underground Space Resources and Collaborative Planning

Construction and Maintenance of Underground Space

Underground Space Development and Urban Resilience

Frontier Exploration and Special Underground Space Utilization

Typical Cases and Exemplars of Underground Space Development