By Mae Thiwari
September 22, 2021 — Young scientists from more than 30 academic and research institutions participated in the third AIT-BNU Virtual Workshop, presenting cutting-edge research on ‘Climate Change, Water Resources and Ecosystems: Challenges and Opportunities’. The workshop serves as a platform to review and present the advanced methodologies, current progress and challenges, future opportunities in water-ecosystems management under climate change.
Asian Institute of Technology, together with Beijing Normal University (BNU), Hefei University of Technology (HFUT) and Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) organized a virtual workshop where 32 presentations are shared in two parallel sessions on four topics ‘Modelling changing climate relating to the hydrological cycle,’ ‘Climate extremes and impacts on water resources and ecosystem’, ‘Interactions of water resource and ecosystem,’ and ‘Risk assessment of ecosystem degradation in a changing environment’. The workshop is concluded with a panel discussion on challenges and opportunities of water resources and ecosystems management due to climate change.
Research presented at the workshop shed light on climate change impact on water resources in countries across the region, including Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. The studies will be published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal of Environmental Research, as a special issue titled ‘Climate Change, Water Resources and Ecosystems: Challenges and Opportunities’ in December this year tentatively, to further disseminate knowledge shared at the workshop.
Beijing Normal University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, famed for its humanities and sciences. Its College of Water Sciences was founded in 2005. AIT Prof. Sangam Shrestha is serving as a Visiting Professor in BNU and in 2018, he was invited there for a 9-day academic and research exchange program. In 2019, Prof. Houngguang Cheng, Dean of BNU College of Water Sciences, also visited AIT. AIT and BNU has also established AIT-BNU-Thai Pipe PhD Scholarships to develop the capacity of professionals working on water and environment in the Asian countries.
Prof. Houngguang Cheng, BNU Dean of College of Water Sciences
In his Opening Remarks, Prof. Cheng stressed that the pandemic could not stop the collaboration between AIT and BNU. This workshop is third in the series of workshops jointly organized by the two institutions. It attracts many talents who work on hydrology, water resources, ecosystem, and other areas in environmental science. “We are looking forward to explore solutions to solve the problems and challenges. The workshop provides a good opportunity and a platform for communications on the state of the arts, concerning water health and ecosystem management,” said Prof. Cheng.
Dr. Eden Woon, AIT President
Noting the importance of water to sustainable development and human survival, AIT President Dr. Eden Woon noted that Water Engineering and Management is the first program established at AIT since its inception in 1959. Over the past 60+ year, the institute has been offering several programs, several dual degrees, and conducting cross-cutting research on climate change and water resources in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. “I’m hopeful that the presentations and deliberations will generate some new knowledge to address the challenges such as climate change and its impact on water resources and ecosystems,” said President Woon.
Prof. Sangam Shrestha, AIT Head of Department of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (CIE)
Climate change is expected to have dramatic effects on water resources and ecosystems, threatening livelihood and human health. Higher water temperatures and changes in extremes, including floods and droughts, are projected to affect water quantity, quality and exacerbate many forms of ecological degradation. On the one hand, the study of climate change, water resources and ecosystems are undergoing a revolution owing to new technologies and methods. On the other hand, these latest technologies and methods are still supported by relatively limited scientific evidence. The workshop and publication that follows aim to fill this gap.
Host Organizations include Water Engineering and Management (WEM), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT); College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University (BNU); Faculty of Architecture Civil and Transportation Engineering (FACTE), Beijing University of Technology (BJUT); and College of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology (HFUT).
