To mark 30 years of harmonising transportation and nature, IENE invited participants of the IENE International Conference Bristol 2026 (IC26) to share their view of the relationship between infrastructure and the natural world through photography. The response was remarkable, and the winners were revealed during the conference dinner in Bristol. We are delighted to now share their work with the wider IENE community.
The competition was organised in four categories, each highlighting a different side of our field.

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In the category: “Nature in Focus”
This category celebrated the beauty, diversity and wonder of wildlife, habitats and natural systems. The winning photograph, by Anna Terrade, captures a large stag encountered during the rutting season while carrying out fieldwork. Standing in a sunlit woodland clearing, the animal is a powerful reminder of the wildlife our work aims to protect.

Anna Terrade

In the category: “Nature & Infrastructure”
This category showcased the relationship between transport infrastructure and the natural environment. Alejandra Franco Saldarriaga won with “The Pyrenean Contrast”, a sweeping mountain landscape in which a viaduct crosses a green Pyrenean valley, illustrating how infrastructure and landscape meet.

Alejandra franco saldarriaga

In the category: “Connecting Landscapes”
This category highlighted ecological connectivity, movement and the connections between people, nature and place. Victoria Gilbey’s winning image shows Cockcrow bridge early in the morning, the first heathland green bridge in the UK, bathed in sunrise light.

Victoria gilbey

In the category: “Innovation in Action”
This category celebrated practical solutions and positive action for nature positive infrastructure. Gebhard Banko won with “Three Ways to Wander: where rubber meets the road, steel meets the track, and paws meet the path”. This aerial photograph brings together road, railway and a wildlife crossing in a single frame, showing how different networks can coexist.

Gebhard banko

In the category: “special mentions”
The jury also wished to recognise two outstanding entries:
Lazaros Georgiadis, for “Bridging in Different Centuries, Greece”, which places historic and modern bridges side by side in the same valley.
Neil Strong, for “Transport infrastructure corridors for all”, a close up reminder that it is not just humans who use rails to commute.

NEIL STRONG

Congratulations to all the winners, and a warm thank you to everyone who submitted photographs. Your images show the passion and creativity of the IENE community, and the many ways in which transport and nature can work together.