Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research - News & Events
Latest News - Workshops & Conferences
November, 2008
Australian-China Remote Sensing Symposium
The 5th Australia-China Symposium was held in Canberra from 23 to 26 November, 2008, based around the theme of Australian-China Remote Sensing. The symposium program is a joint initiative of the Australian Academy of Science, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Workshops were mounted in the areas of Energy and Mineral Exploration, Land Management and Agriculture, Water Resources, and Natural Disaster and Environmental Change.
Professor John Langford and Professor Xia Jun were invited to convene the workshop – Remote Sensing for Water Resources. This brought together six scientists from China drawn from the CAS Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS Institute of Remote Sensing, CAS Institute of Genetics and Development Biology, CAS Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, and the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research. The Australian side included representatives of the Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, CSIRO Land and Water, and Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
The Chinese delegation spent the final day of the workshop in Melbourne undertaking a program of technical visits. Visits were made to the Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Sustainability and Environment, School of Earth Sciences (University of Melbourne), and the CRC for Spatial Information.
The Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research has been asked to coordinate collaboration arising from the Remote Sensing for Water Resources Workshop.
Further information:
- Remote Sensing for Water Resources Workshop - Dr Yongping Wei, Research Fellow, Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research at ywei@unimelb.edu.au
- Australia-China Symposium program - Ms Elizabeth Meier, Manager, International Linkages, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering at ElizabethM@atse.org.au
Australia-China Groundwater Workshop
The Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research hosted the Australia- China Groundwater Workshop at the University of Melbourne from 17 to 19 November, 2008.
Support for the workshop was provided by the International Science Linkages – Science Academies Program through the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
The Chinese delegation was led by Professor Xia Jun, Co-Director of the Centre, and included representatives of the CAS Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China Agricultural University, Wuhan University, and the Ministry of Water Resources (Haihe River Water Resources Conservancy Commission and China Water International Engineering Consulting Co Ltd). Representatives from Australia were drawn from universities, key government bodies such as CSIRO Land and Water and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries, and major water management authorities – Southern Rural Water and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.
The workshop sessions were organised around the themes of – groundwater and climate change, groundwater geochemistry and isotopes, groundwater modelling, groundwater management, and technological use in groundwater.
As part of their program, the Chinese delegation undertook a two-day field trip, which encompassed visits to the Eildon Dam and Goulburn Weir, and an inspection of irrigation activities in the Bacchus Marsh area.
Further information:
- Australia-China Groundwater Workshop - Dr Yongping Wei, Research Fellow, Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research at ywei@unimelb.edu.au
- International Science Linkages – Science Academies Program - Ms Elizabeth Meier, Manager, International Linkages, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering at ElizabethM@atse.org.au
October, 2008
Visit by the University of Melbourne to China
In early October a delegation from the University of Melbourne led by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis, visited China. One of the key purposes of the visit was to strengthen the University’s relationship with key partners including the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
As part of the program in Beijing (14 October, 2008), the Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research and the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly hosted a workshop under the theme Australia-China Research related to Water, Climate and Environment.
Presentations highlighted research linked to several key river basins, the Haihe River, Black River, and the Murray Darling system, while other researchers reported on their work in specific areas of water resources research such as irrigation and water allocation, water resources management, sustainable agriculture, and the development of decision support systems to assist farmers and water management authorities.
Professor Frank Larkins, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Relations), hosted the workshop, with speakers from the University including Professor Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Rathjen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor John Langford, Co-Director of the Centre, and Associate Professor Deli Chen, Deputy Director of the Centre.
The program included a signing ceremony to renew the bilateral relationship between the University of Melbourne and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Further information:
- Workshop on Australia-China Research related to Water, Climate, and Environment - Dr Yongping Wei, Research Fellow, Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research at ywei@unimelb.edu.au
- Bilateral relationship between the University of Melbourne and the Chinese Academy of Sciences - Mr Douglas Proctor, Manager, International Relations Office at dproctor@unimelb.edu.au
Workshops and Conferences
Future - 2009
-
Australia-China Special Fund Workshop to be held in China in March 2009
Australia-China Special Fund Workshop/conference to be held in Melbourne in second half of 2009
Previous
2007
- Water, Energy and Climate Change Futures, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne, May.
- Sustainable Water, mounted in Beijing as part of the 4th Australia-China Symposium under the theme On Sustaining Global Ecosystems, August.
- Agricultural Water Resource Management and Irrigation Modernisation, in collaboration with the Shanxi Provincial Water Resources Department, and the Food and Agricultural Organisation, Taiyuan, August
2006
- Inaugural workshop, facilitated by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, University of Melbourne, February
Visits
2008
- February: Associate Professor Yang Zhiping, Shanxi Agricultural Academy of Sciences, visited Melbourne
- March: Associate Professor Deli Chen, Deputy Director of the Australian node of the Centre, visited the Chinese node in Beijing, and Shanxi Provincial Water Resources Department.
- June/July: Team from the University of Melbourne led by Associate Professor Deli Chen visited Shanxi Province to conduct field experiments.
2007
- May: delegation led by Professor Xia Jun, Director the Chinese node of the Centre, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, visited Melbourne
- May: Professor Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Melbourne, with Associate Professor Deli Chen, Deputy Director of the Australian node, visited the Chinese node of the Centre in Beijing.
- August: delegation led by Professor John Langford, Director of the Australian node of the Centre, attended the 4th Australia-China Symposium in Beijing and made associated visits to Baiyangdian Lake, Black River Basin, and the Shanxi Provincial Water Resources Department.
- November: delegation led by Professor Cheng Guodong, Director of the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Lanzhou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, visited the Centre in Melbourne, together with the Dookie campus of the University of Melbourne and water related bodies in Albury and Canberra.
2006
- September: Professor John Langford, Director of the Australian node of the Centre, made his first official visit to China on behalf of the Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research visiting institutions in Beijing and water related bodies in Shanxi and Hebei Provinces.
- October: delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources visited the Centre in Melbourne.
- November: Professor Lu Yongxiang, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, visited the Centre in Melbourne.