17th World Congress on Road Winter Service, Resilience and Decarbonisation
Chambéry (France), 10-13 March 2026
The 17th edition of our landmark winter event took place in Chambéry from 10 to 13 March 2026, under the theme “Ensuring road excellence in all seasons”.
The Congress was organised by PIARC, the World Road Association, in close collaboration with the French Local Organising Committee (COVH). The presidency of the Local Organising Committee was jointly held by the French First Delegate to PIARC, representing the Ministry in charge of Transport, and by the Mayor of Chambéry, President of the Grand Chambéry metropolitan area.
The event attracted nearly 2,000 participants, 52 exhibitors and 450 speakers. The programme included more than 100 thematic sessions, 100 conferences and 100 workshops, 10 technical visits and the 5th World Snowplough Championship.
Proceedings of Chambéry Congress 2026 available online!
The participants of the Congress were able to meet the exhibitors present in Chambéry and take part in one of the ten technical visits on offer.
Chambéry 2026 Congress proceedings are available online:
There you will find:
- The Congress programme, day by day (Opening Session, High Level Authorities’ Session, Keynote sessions, etc.),
- The 5th World Snowplough Championship,
- The individual papers selected by the Technical Committees following the Call for Papers, by topic and by author,
- The PIARC Awards 2026.
>> Access to the Proceedings of Chambéry Congress!
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About Chambéry
The town of Chambéry, which has a population of 60,000, is the former capital of the Dukes of Savoy and is famous for its Elephant Fountain.
Chambéry is very accessible, thanks in particular to the Lyon and Geneva airports, which are just 45 minutes away by car, the high-speed train (less than 3 hours from Paris), the two Alpine motorways and the two emblematic tunnels connecting Chambéry to Switzerland and Italy.
The specific characteristics of this region have encouraged the development of a veritable mountain ecosystem around Chambéry. More than 3,000 entrepreneurs, employees, students, researchers, engineers and lecturers dealing with all types of mountain-related subjects - economics, science, tourism, geology, the environment, law and safety - are concentrated within a 30km radius of the town.
This Alpine town is a veritable hub for the 60 ski resorts in Savoie, France's leading mountain destination, and is at the centre of a department concerned with the challenges of road resilience.