Reliable grounding system design is a cornerstone of electrical infrastructure engineering, traditionally optimized to safeguard personnel and assets against steady-state, power-frequency (50/60 Hz) and impulse conditions. Standard industry guidelines, such as IEEE Std 80, establish safe touch and step voltage thresholds based on quasi-static electrical behaviors where conductor resistance dominates. However, these conventional frameworks become inadequate when grounding networks are subjected to high-frequency and high impulse conditions. When a lightning strike impacts a power substation, communication tower, or industrial facility, it produces an impulsive electromagnetic transient characterized by an exceptionally sharp fast rise time. Under these high-frequency transient states, the physical behavior of the grounding network changes fundamentally due to inductive effect, wave propagation limits, and non-linear soil dynamics. To bridge the gap between theoretical modeling and real-world resilience, modern engineering relies heavily on advanced field diagnostics and empirical verification. A comprehensive evaluation requires precise measurements of grounding systems at low voltage, low current and impulse injections. These include establishing true remote earth references and isolating mutual inductive coupling during high-current field tests, which are critical to achieving not only safe methods and procedures, but also reasonably accurate results. Several factors have been known to affect the performance of grounding systems. At low-frequency, low-current testing establishes the dominant power-frequency grounding resistance Rg, where the value can be improved by enlarging the cross-sectional area of the electrode and having low resistivity soil. On the other hand, it is more complex for the high-voltage impulse injections, where the true transient impedance, Zg, was found to depend on impulse polarity, pre-ionization threshold, current magnitudes and response times. Engineers are moving beyond standard copper grids and utilizing the natural soil, where exploration on the advanced backfill materials, conductive concretes, and geometrically optimized electrode configurations, such as star-agents, counterpoises, and crowded mesh structures are specifically engineered to minimize transient inductive reactance in obtaining the optimum design of ground electrodes. Realizing there are still limited studies in these areas, progressive studies, though limited on the development of various soils/materials and ground electrode designs under impulse currents have been carried out. Differences in the standard requirement on the usage of structural facility are seen from one standard to another. To enhance protection at the structural level, civil and electrical engineering disciplines, the assessment of piled structures as a grounding system in comparison to typical grounding systems is worth a study. Utilizing the extensive, deep-reaching concrete-encased steel rebars of building foundations offers a massive, inherently low-impedance path for transient dissipation, though its high-frequency inductive performance differs significantly from conventionally buried horizontal meshes. Ultimately, the survival of both grid infrastructure and consumer assets relies on the performance of protective devices in various grounding systems. Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) and lightning arresters do not operate in isolation; their voltage-clamping efficacy is fundamentally bound to the transient impedance of the grounding system they are tied to. A high-impedance ground path elevates the residual voltage across the protection zone, rendering SPDs ineffective which can lead to catastrophic component insulation breakdown. Studies on different grounding systems with different SPDs are therefore need to be looked at. To unlock the fundamental physics driving these failures, recent research has leveraged visual diagnostics, establishing a rigorous study on discharges in soil through imaging techniques. By capturing real-time plasma propagation and arcing patterns within specialized soil chambers, researchers can visually map the non-linear ionization zones that dictate transient performance. This special section is aimed to explore the convergence of these experimental techniques, field diagnostics, and material advancements under the unified theme of transient mitigation. By evaluating the interplay between grid geometry, structural foundations, protection coordination, and non-linear soil physics, this section is hope to establish comprehensive optimization strategies to maximize transient energy dissipation and ensure robust protection against fast-front lightning surges.