The first EGU Galileo conference, entitled "From process to signal – advancing environmental seismology" (http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc1-enviroseis/), was held June 6–9, 2017, in Ohlstadt, Germany. Many leading researchers who apply seismic techniques to Earth surface problems were present, and the state of the art of the field was surveyed, emerging problems were discussed, and relationships were built in a budding specialist community. The special issue collects papers from workshop attendees and beyond, aiming to provide a first point of contact with seismic methods for interested Earth surface scientists.