Professor Yu Zhongbo Attended the International Conference on Safety of Infrastructure Systems

Professor Yu Zhongbo Attended the International Scientific and Expert Conference on Safety of Infrastructure Systems --   Concepts, Regulations and Practice

On the 12th and 13th of October 2023, the International Scientific and Expert Meeting on Safety of Infrastructure System - Concepts, Regulations and Practice was successfully held in Belgrade,Republic of Serbia. Professor Yu Zhongbo, President of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Program (IHP) of UNESCO and Director of the National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention at Hohai University, was invited to attend the conference and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Challenges in Water Security and Sustainability -- China’s water culture and IHP IX strategic plan".

The conference, organized by the Centre for Risk Analysis and Crisis Management from Belgradewith the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology Development of the Republic of Serbia, focused on the management of risks and crises faced by infrastructure security. It invited leading experts and scholars in the fields of food and water supply, energy supply chains, ICS systems and digital infrastructure, traffic and transport systems and other critical infrastructure security, aimed to discuss the concepts, regulations and protection practices, develop multifunctional and interdisciplinary approaches for risk and crisis management and promote high-quality and sustainable development of infrastructure security.

Prof. Yu Zhongbo pointed out in his presentation that water security under climate change involves global, national or regional scales and is directly related to hydrological processes and the spatial and temporal distribution of water. To achieve the sustainability of water resources, it is crucial to strengthen actions in three key areas taking into account the implementation of IHP-IX: conducting water science research to improve knowledge and innovation to address water security challenges; strengthening the science-policy interface to achieve water security at all levels; and facilitating education and capacity development to enhance water resources management and governance. Prof. Yu emphasized the importance of integrating the impacts of natural and human-induced climate change on the global and regional hydrological cycle. He introduced the Chinese water culture, especially the classic cases of harmonious coexistence of man and water, such as the Liangzhu Cultural and Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project, expanding upon the significant contribution made by the Three Gorges Dam and the South-to-North Water Diversion, explaining how China's water culture best cope with the impacts of environmental change on water, and points out that the future effort is at the nexus of water science, governance and education for addressing these challenges.