Grand Opening of IWA - CoFXIAN2011 International Conference Organized by XAUAT

 

The international conference “Cities of the Future - Technologies for Integrated Urban Water Management” which is holding by International Water Association in collaboration with Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology was opened ceremoniously in Xi’an Peoples’ Hotels on the morning of 16th September. More than 400 academics and scholars all around the world in the field of water environment attended the grand ceremony. The conference gained great support of NSFC, Department of Environmental Protection and Science & Technology Department of Shaanxi Province as well as Environmental Protection Bureau of Xi’an city.

 

 

The opening ceremony was hosted by Prof. Xiaochang Wang, the conference chairman and vice president of XAUAT. The conference attracted a batch of world renowned scholars including IWA president, Dr. Glen Daigger; IWA executive director, Mr. Paul Reiter; IWA ex-president, Prof. Norihito Tambo; Ecology Center director of Chinese Academy of Science, Prof. Jiuhui Qu as well as the vice president of XAUAT, Prof. Dongping Tian. Furthermore, Mr. Fali He, the head of Environmental Protection Department of Shaanxi Province and Mr. Ke Sun, the vice head of Science & Technology Department of Shaanxi Province along with Mr. Yamin Luo, director of Environmental Protection Bureau of Xi’an city has also attended the opening ceremony.

 

Prof. Xiaochang Wang, vice president of XAUAT chaired the opening ceremony

 

Prof. Xiaochang Wang expressed his congratulation on the grand opening of the conference and showed warm welcome to the experts and scholars all around the world. IWA executive director, Mr. Paul Reiter delivered a speech and made a brief introduction about the development and the international impact of IWA. Mr. Fali He, the head of Environmental Protection Department of Shaanxi Province and Mr. Ke Sun, the vice head of Science & Technology Department of Shaanxi Province has also showed their congratulations on the big event.

 

Mr. Paul Reiter, IWA executive director delivered a speech

 

Mr. Fali He, the head of Environmental Protection Department of Shaanxi Province delivered a speech

 

Mr. Ke Sun, the vice head of Science & Technology Department of Shaanxi Province delivered a speech

 

 

 

 

After the opening ceremony, the conference proceeded to the plenary keynotes chaired by Dr. Rong Chen. Six world-renowned scholars including IWA president Dr. Glen Daigger, IWA ex-president Prof. Norihito Tambo and Ecology Center director of Chinese Academy of Science Prof. Jiuhui Qu presented their keynotes in the conference.

 

IWA ex-president Prof. Norihito Tambo presented his keynote

 

IWA president Dr. Glen Daigger presented his keynote

 

Ecology Center director of Chinese Academy of Science Jiuhui Qu academician presented his keynote

 

 

During the three-day conference, over 120 attendants from more than 30 countries including USA, Japan, Germany, Norway, Italy and China has made over 120 academic presentations on the topic of “System Design and Innovation”“ Integrated Technologies for Urban Water”“ Water Reclamation, Reuse and Recycling”“Improvement of Urban Water Environment” respectively.

 

 

Relevant Information

 

As a global organization, International Water Association (IWA) is founded in 1999 owning more than 13000 members from over 100 countries currently. It is set up with the aim of helping water professionals create innovative, pragmatic and sustainable solutions to challenging global needs.

 

Sustainable water and wastewater management is a hot topic for urban water environment improvement nowadays and toward the future development. In China, as well as other developing regions in the world, urbanization is the symbolic trend of economic development. This results in an increasing demand of water supply for domestic, municipal, industrial and environmental uses in the expanded and/or newly developed urban areas. In the water deficient countries or regions, water shortage and water environment deterioration often occur simultaneously and become factors to restrict the sustainable urban development. Under such circumstances, many efforts have to be made to solve these problems. The International Water Association (IWA) conference “Cities of the Future Xi’an: Technologies for Integrated Urban Water Management” (CoF-XIAN2011, 15-18 September 2011), as one of the planned events under the IWA Cities of the Future (CoF) Program, thus provides a good opportunity for Chinese scientists, engineers, and environmental decision makers to seat together with professionals from all over the world to exchange their opinions and experiences in the related fields. Under the national researching subject “Water Pollution Control and Treatment”, the conference shows the substantial accomplishments of urban water pollution control and treatment in China.