From June 27 to 30,2022, the Beijing Normal University (BNU) Summer School 2022 (BNUSS 2022): Geography and Sustainability, sponsored by BNU and organized by the Faculty of Geographical Science (FGS), BNU, was successfully held. This program was open to partner universities of the “International Collaborative Human Resources Development Program in Asia to Foster Inclusive Minds” of CAMPUS Asia.
The virtual session of BNUSS 2022 focused on four main aspects of international frontier research, namely land use change and land degradation, ecosystem pattern-process-service, coupled human-earth system, and sustainable development. The speakers guided students in learning about the importance of geography for sustainable development and the development and innovation of geography and provided support for regional, national, and global sustainable development. More than 300 researchers, scholars, and graduate students committed to geography and related fields registered for the online program. They came from 27 countries, including Australia, Pakistan, Bhutan, Denmark, Germany, the Philippines, Colombia, Canada, Kenya, Romania, the US, South Africa, Nepal, Nigeria, Portugal, Japan, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Thailand, Ukraine, Singapore, Italy, India, Indonesia, the UK, Vietnam, and China.
The eventwas moderated by Professor ZHAO Wenwu, Associate Professor LI Yan, Associate Professor ZHANG Shurong, and Dr. DING Jingyi from the BNU FGS. At the opening ceremony, Professor ZHAO, as the program leader, introduced the background, main contents, schedules, and guest speakers of the program. Academician FU Bojie, the Honorary Dean of the BNU FGS, Chief Supervisor of the Geographical Society of China, and Vice President of the International Geographical Union (IGU), delivered welcoming remarks and a keynote speech on “Promoting Geography for Sustainability in the Era of Anthropocene,” elaborating on the challenges faced by global sustainable development and reviewing the development course and direction of geography.
During the event, seven speakersdelivered reports respectively: IGU Chair and AcademicianMichael Meadows from University of Cape Town on “Anthropogeomorphology: the nature and scale of human impact on landforms and landscapes,” “Coastal and estuarine wetland environments in the Anthropocene,” and “Geographies of climate change, disasters and sustainable development in the Anthropocene”; ProfessorPaulo Alexandre da Silva Pereira from Mykolas Romeris University on “Ecosystem services degradation in a changing environment,” “War impacts on ecosystem degradation,” and “Ecosystem services in mountain environments”; ProfessorDavid Eldridge from University of New South Wale of Australia on “Grazing andanimal disturbance”; ProfessorAdam Wei from University of British Columbia of Canada on “The nexus of forest-water-service under a changing environment”; Associate Professor Paolo Tarolli from University of Padova of Italy on “Sustainable agriculture in steep-slope landscapes under climate change scenarios”; Associate Professor LI Yan from BNU on “Modelling the coupled human and natural systems”; and Associate Professor ZHOUSha from BNU on “Land-atmosphere coupling and climate change.”
ViceDean DONG Xiaobin and Secretary of Foreign Affairs ZHANG Wenjuan of BNU FGS attended the closing ceremony. In his concluding remarks, Vice Dean DONG spoke highly of the important role of the program in promoting comprehensive and integrated research of geography, serving regional and global sustainable development, and providing a platform of exchanges and learning for global geographers.
It is reported thatthe Geography and Sustainability program has been included in a series of activities of the “International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development” (IYBSSD2022). For more information, visit the website ofIYBSSD2022:https://www.iybssd2022.org/en/events/online-summer-school-on-geography-and-sustainability/.
Screenshots during the event
