From May 26 to 27, 2025, the International Symposium on Water-Ecology-Energy-Food Nexus, organized by Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI) was grandly held in Nanjing. ZHANG Jianyun, Director of the Science and Technology Committee of NHRI, and PAN Junning, Vice President of NHRI, attended the meeting. GAO Changsheng, Vice President of NHRI, Allen Hunt, former director of the Hydrological Sciences Program at the National Science Foundation of the United States and professor at Wright State University, and Zheng Jinhai, President of Hohai University attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches on behalf of the organizer, academic committee, and co-organizers of the Symposium, respectively. Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, Salvatore Grimaldi, President of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, and Arcieri Marco, President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage also sent their video speeches to the opening ceremony, representing international organizations. The Symposium witnessed the attendance of LIU Zuwen, President and Wu Zejun, Deputy Party Committee Secretary, of Nanchang Institute of Technology, and XU Zhifeng, Director of National Institute of Rural Electrification, Ministry of Water Resources.

Prof. ZHANG Jianyun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and international fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK, Prof. Allen Hunt, Researcher XU Hongmei, Chief Forecaster at the China National Climate Center, Prof. Dongkyun Kim from Hongik University, South Korea, Prof. XU Bin from Hohai University, and Osama Mousa Gazal, Secretary-General’s Advisor, Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Jordan delivered keynote reports, titled Discussion on the Water-Food-Ecology Nexus in the Context of Climate Change, A New Way to Look at Catchments and the Water Balance: Percolation Scaling Combined with Ecological Optimality, Interconnected Impacts of Climate Change on Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Risk Assessment, Employing GPU Acceleration for Calibration of Distributed Hydrologic Models with Thousands of Parameters, Advances and Prospects in Water Resources Allocation Technologies under AI Transformation, and Participatory Management in Water Resources in Jordan, respectively. Centering on the theme “Analysis and Coordinated Security of the Water-Ecology-Energy-Food Nexus under Changing Environment”, participants engaged in exchanges and discussions on such topics as impacts and adaptation of environmental changes on the Water-Ecology-Energy-Food Nexus, evolution and regulation of the coupled system, applications of artificial intelligence in the nexus and international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. The sessions showcased practices and achievements in the field of the Water-Ecology-Energy-Food Nexus, while facilitating knowledge exchanges on global research advancements and cutting-edge technologies.

The Joint Initiative on Collaborative Research and Coordinated Management of the Water-Ecology-Energy-Food Nexus under the Belt and Road Initiative was released during the Symposium. This initiative aims to provide smart solutions for efficient water resources utilization worldwide through practical cooperation.

The Symposium attracted scholars and representatives from 15 countries including China, the United States, Canada, Italy, South Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Jordan, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia and Liberia to gather in Nanjing.