LASOSU2021, the International Forum on Land
Degradation, Soil Conservation and Sustainable Development, 2021, was
successfully held as an online conference during 21-23 August 2021. The
conference is supervised by the World Association of Soil and Water
Conservation (WASWAC), Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering (AIIA)
and Soil Erosion Division of CSWCS (China) and organized by Dalian University
of Technology (China) and University of Padova (Italy). Thirteen other academic
institutes were involved in co-organizing the conference, e.g., the Institute of
Soil and Water Conservation of CAS & MWR (China), Beijing Normal University
(China), Xi'an University of Technology (China), Italian Association for Soil
and Water Bioengineering (Italy), etc.
Thoughtful reports and hot discussions have
been carried out focusing on the cutting-edge topics for the effects of climate
change on land degradation, remote sensing and big data in land degradation
analysis, soil conservation and sustainable development, nature-based solutions
for soil and water conservation, smart monitoring information system for soil
and water conservation, decision-making information system for soil and water
conservation and land resource management. 259 papers have been accepted and 10
outstanding participants have been awarded in LASOSU2021. The conference programme
included a welcoming ceremony, 2 slots for keynote presentations, 1 slot for
focus group discussion, 23 slots for parallel sessions, and a closing ceremony.
241 participants from 19 countries in the field of soil and water conservation
and sustainable development have been involved in the online communication
during 22-23 August, including 53 chairpersons, 169 oral presenters and 19
poster presenters, 82 of which are at the level of professors, and 84 of which
are from outside of China. In the conference, 6 preeminent scientists,
including one member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, have given keynote speeches, and another
23 experts have given solicited parallel-session presentations. During the
conference, a total of 2263 participants were recorded in the VooV meeting,
Innovation China, and CNKI Online Lectures.
The presidents of the Organizing Committee
of LASOSU2021 are Professor Duihu Ning (International Research and Training
Center on Erosion and Sedimentation, China) and Professor Paolo Tarolli
(University of Padova, Italy). President Duihu Ning, chaired the welcome
ceremony, which was addressed by Professor Chi Zhang, Dean of 2 the Faculty of
Infrastructure Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Mr. Weiguo Li, Director
of the Water Bureau of Dalian Government (China), Professor Paolo Tarolli (Italy),
Chairperson of the Organizing Committee, Professor Wenlong Wang, Director of
the Soil Erosion Division, CSWCS, and Professor Giacomo Scarascia Mugnozza, President
of the Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering. Academician Jianguo Liu
(USA), Academician Bojie Fu (China), Professor Vincenzo D'Agostino (Italy), Professor
Chongfa Cai (China), Professor Paulo Alexandre da Silva Pereira (Lithuania) and
Professor Roberto A Peiretti (Argentina) presented keynote speeches in the conference.
Also an innovative slot, the Focus Group Discussion (FGD), was adopted in
LASOSU2021. Professor Fenli Zheng (China) led an interesting discussion concerning
Global Soil Conservation and Food Production together with 5 esteemed professors
from 4 countries including Chi-hua Huang (USA), Baoyuan Liu (China), Paolo
Tarolli (Italy), Altaf Ali Siyal (Pakistan), and Fei Wang (China). It's worth
noting that, the number of participants had reached the maximum capacity of 300
in a single Tencent/VooV meeting during this period. Finally, the closing
ceremony was presided over by Professor Wenlong Wang. Professor Xiaoying Liu,
the Secretary General of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation,
announced the list of award recipients. Dr. Chao Qin from Tsinghua University
(China), who won one of the outstanding papers, made a speech on behalf of the
conference participants. The summary of the conference was made by Professor
Federico Preti, president of Soil and Water Conservation Division of the
Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering, and Professor Guanghui Zhang,
Vice Director of the Soil Erosion Division, CSWCS. By the end of the conference,
Professor Xiangzhou Xu, the head of the conference team in Dalian, delivered a
speech to extend his thanks and delights in organizing the LASOSU2021.
During the LASOSU2021, smooth network provided
powerful support for the communication, which illustrate that an online
international conference at a large scale is practical under the COVID epidemic
situation. Even held in China, LASOSU2021 was highly internationalized. All
oral presentations and posters are in English, and the presenters and
chairpersons from outside of China account for 35% of the 241
presenters/chairpersons. LASOSU2021 has not only a large number of participants
but also a high academic level. The presenters/chairpersons at the professor
level or above account for 34% of the total. The conference was also supported
by various social forces: 18 famous universities, institutes and associations
from China and other countries participated in the preparation and organization
of LASOSU2021. Among them, Northwest A&F University, Shenyang Agricultural
University and University of Florence (Italy), convened 5, 3, and 2 slots of
parallel sessions, respectively. Moreover, two enterprises sponsored the
conference, and a leader of the local government also participated in the 3 core
slot of the conference. Especially, the professionalism and impartiality have
been realized in selecting the outstanding attendances which have been approved
by all participants.
In conclusion, LASOSU2021 has received wide
attentions in the field of soil conservation and sustainable development. It is
said that "LASOSO2021 is a high-level international academic conference
held under the epidemic situation of COVID-19".
Maybe LASOSU2021 has made a promotion in
improving the general studies and starting the key projects in the field.
LASOSU2021 has played a positive role in providing a global perspective and
strategic thinking to dissolve the problem of serious soil degradation
described in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a document adopted by
all UN Member States in 2015.
Attachment: List of Award Recipients.pdf Land Degradation, Soil Conservation and Sustainable Development.pdf