We are making the 1st Announcement

13 Mar 2020

Photo: Dechao Zhang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Sorry for keeping everyone waiting. Here is our 1st Announcement.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, we regret to announce that our Forum will be postponed to 16 to 19 November 2020. If this change would cause any inconvenience, we are deeply sorry. Yet we do wish the epidemic could be contained and eliminated as soon as possible around the globe, and wish everyone who has been impacted a quick recovery.

Meanwhile, our abstract submission system is now ready and will be open until 15 July 2020. You are most welcome to submit your abstracts.

Background

Water lies at the heart of life and well-being, yet it is a finite resource which is quickly outpaced by the global demand in rapid growth. The UN SDG 6 aims at "availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all", prioritising the importance of water security and sustainability in the societal and environmental welfare. However, such welfare is challenged by the current water availability. On a global scale, more than two billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress. In China, 30% of its land area is suffering from high or extremely high water stress. About two thirds of Chinese cities are having problems sustaining sufficient water supply. Therefore properly managed water has a major stake in the future. Global changes are bringing immensely profound impacts to the earth system and hence the future.

Under a warming climate, extreme events like floods and droughts are staged at an increased intensity and frequency. The rising sea level poses major threat of coastal flooding, and impacts estuary systems drastically. These changes also stagger the ecological systems with symptoms such as biodiversity loss and rapid degradation. The success and resilience of water management is highly dependant on our technical innovations and institutional capacities. We need to change our ways of thinking, living and managing to adapt to such global changes.

In 2015 and 2017, two Forums on water security and sustainability have been held in Nanjing, attracting attention of researchers both in China and around the world. Hence, YICODE, HHU and NHRI, sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, are proudly announcing the 3rd Forum of the series in 2020 to continue our discussion on water security and sustainability. We sincerely hope this could provide an open, frank, productive and multi-disciplinary forum for researchers and practitioners in the field. Researchers and practitioners around the globe are welcome to take part in the two-day discussion from cross-cutting perspectives.

Theme & topics

Theme

Water security and sustainability

Topics

Integrated River Basin Management, including but not limited to river basin sustainability, institutions, eco-compensation, modern water governance
Climate Change and Risks, including but not limited to climate change and projections, extreme climatic events, scenarios and uncertainties, climate impacts and adaptation, flood risk management, urban flooding
Aquatic ecology and water engineering, including but not limited to aquatic environment and ecology, eco-friendly water engineering, river and lake health assessment, resilience of water infrastructures
Water resources protection and development, including but not limited to high efficiency water use, water saving, water allocation, unconventional water sources and risk control, groundwater protection and development

Contacts

Pease email estds@nhri.cn for enquries. The following members of the Secretariat will get back to you at the earliest convenience.

Chunhui Lu
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development & Hohai University
- 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China
David Zhou
- Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development & Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute
- 223 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, P. R. China