The Forum
Inauguration of Water and Sustainable Development Fund for the Belt and Road Countries
Welcome Speech by ZHANG Jianyun, NHRI President, Chairman of the Organization Committee, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and International Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), UK
Address by LIU Yongfeng, Deputy Secretary-General, Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society (CHES)
Address by GUO Zhiwei, Deputy Director-General, Department of Basic Research, the Ministry of Science and Technology
Address by LEI Chaozi, Director-General, Department of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education
Opening Ceremony Chaired by TANG Hongwu, Chairman of Hohai University Council
On Oct. 19th-20th, 2017, the 2nd International Top-Level Forum on Engineering Science and Technology Development Strategy - Water Security and Sustainable Development was successfully convened in Nanjing. More than 400 experts and scholars from abroad and at home attended the Forum for the discussion of the strategic demands of water security in China and international frontier of water science. The Forum was sponsored by CAE Civil, Hydraulic and Architectural Division and CHES, and organized by NHRI and Hohai University. NHRI President ZHANG Jianyun, Chairman of the Organization Committee, CAE Member and RAE International Fellow, delivered a welcome speech at the Forum. LIU Yongfeng, CHES Deputy Secretary-General, made an address on behalf of the sponsors of the Forum. GUO Zhiwei, Deputy Director-General, Department of Basic Research, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and LEI Chaozi, Director-General, Department of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education made addresses as well. TANG Hongwu, Chairman of Hohai University Council, presided over the opening ceremony.
At the opening ceremony, Water and Sustainable Development Fund for the Belt and Road Countries, co-funded by NHRI and Hohai University, was officially launched. The fund aims at enhancing the capacity and standard of service for the Belt and Road construction, giving full play to the overall advantages of disciplines at NHRI and Hohai University, comprehensively gathering the outstanding talents and resources at home and abroad, jointly helping the countries and regions along the Belt and Road for their economic and social development, and pushing the international development of emerging interdisciplines, scientific research cooperation and talent cultivation. The fund mainly includes student scholarship, scientific research fund and talent cultivation and exchange fund, among which the student scholarship will mainly fund the excellent students from the countries and regions along the Belt and Road for full-time postgraduate degrees, and the scientific research fund will be used for the basic researches with higher scientific values and application prospects in related to water security and sustainable development of countries and regions along the Belt and Road.
There were 5 invited reports and 9 keynote speeches at the plenary session on Oct. 19th. The 5 invited reports were Climate Change in China and Its Adaptive Strategies by LIU Yanhua, former Vice Minister of Science and Technology and Counselor of the State Council, The Understanding on Water Security in China by JIAO Yong, former Vice Minister of Water Resources and Chairman of the Chinese National Committee on Large Dams, Hydrologic Change and Its Implications for Water Security by Prof. Dennise Lettenmaier with UCLA, Fellow of US Academy of Engineering, Climate Change, Extreme Events and Technical Challenges by Prof. Ian Cluckie with Swansea University, RAE Fellow, UK and CAE Foreign Member, and Water Security and Sustainability by Prof. Andras Szollosi-Nagy, Chair of Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme, UNESCO. The invited reports were co-chaired by MA Hongqi, CAE Member and Prof. Michael Bruen with UCD, Ireland.
Focusing on the theme of Changing Environment and Its impacts, 4 keynote speeches included Bringing Future Climatic Change into Water Resources Management Practice Today by Prof. Slobodan P. Simonovic with University of Western Ontario, Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering, Systematic Approach to Comprehensive Treatment of Urban Degraded River by Prof. YANG Zhifeng with Beijing Normal University, CAE Member, Challenges of Balancing Water Supply Reliability, Flood Risk Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration: Examples from the United States by Prof. Peter Goodwin with University of Maryland, IAHR President, and Key Hydrological Processes and Responses in Cold Areas under Changing Environment by Prof. YU Zhongbo with Hohai University, Director of State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering.
Focusing on the theme of Water and Sustainable Development, 5 keynote speeches included Climate Change Driven Impact Assessment and Response of Coasts by Prof. Marcel Stive with Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, Improvement Technology of Urban Water Environment and Its Application by Prof. LI Yun, NHRI Vice President, Swedish Sustainable Hydropower Within a Future European Renewable Energy System by Peter Funegard, Senior Analyst, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, Sweden, Water Science Education, the Belt and Road Initiative and Sustainable Development by Prof. TANG Hongwu, Chairman of Hohai University Council, and Water-Related Disaster Management and Transdisciplinary Approach by Prof. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi with University of Yamanashi, former IAHS President and Founding Director of International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management, Japan.
The Forum lasted for 2 days. On Oct. 20th, 7 parallel sessions and 1 side event were held with such respective topics as Impacts of Climate Change on Extreme Hydrologic Events, Impacts of Changing Environment on Hydrological Cycle and Regional Water Resources, Impacts of Climate Change on Water Eco-Environment, Urban Development and Urban Flood Control, Adaptation Strategy of Environment Change and Sustainable Development, Hydrological Experiments under Changing Environment, Water-Energy-Food Nexus under Changing Environment, and Runoff Change and Adaptive Utilization in the Source Region of Southwest China (a NSFC major research program). Another side event with the topic of Integrated Solutions for Water Resources under Future Challenges was held on Oct. 18th, prior to the convention of the Forum. There were 155 experts in total presenting their reports at the Forum, profoundly exchanging the frontier trends of water security and sustainable development under changing environment to cope with the challenges of water security for the future development.
The Forum saw the attendance of experts and scholars from 16 countries and regions, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, HongKong, etc., and from UNESCO-IHP and IAHR. Domestic participants included representatives from government departments, river commissions, research institutions, universities and enterprises, such as GAO Zhongqi, CAE Director-General, LI Wanhong, NSFC Director, LI Ge, Deputy Director-General of MWR Department of International Cooperation, Science and Technology, etc.
