The 2024 China Urban Water Environment and Water Ecological Development Conference was held, and the group''s Ankang project was selected as an "Excellent Practice Case of the First Yangtze River Protection in 2024"

On May 24, 2024, the 6th China Urban Water Environment and Water Ecological Development Conference and the Three Gorges Environmental Science and Technology Conference (Water Conference) were held in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The conference, with the theme of "Water Governance: Technology, Industry, and Society", conducted over ten high-quality innovative academic exchange activities and discussed the systematic, complex, and sustainable nature of ecological environment governance with the backbone of government, industry, academia, and research. Together, we will build a multi-dimensional, dynamic, and global environmental protection new pattern. Hou Feng, Vice President of the Water Environment and Water Ecology Branch of the China Urban Science Research Association and Chairman of the China Water Environment Group, was invited to attend and participate in the conference discussion.

Wei Shengbin, Vice Governor of Hubei Province and Secretary General of Hubei Provincial Government, Han Jun, General Manager and Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of China Three Gorges Corporation, Yu Gang, Academician of the CAE Member, Vice President and Secretary General of the China Urban Science Research Association, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Qu Jiuhui, President of the Conference, CAE Member, Vice President of the China Urban Science Research Association, President of the Water Environment and Water Ecology Branch of the China Urban Science Research Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Water Branch"), more than ten academicians of the "two academies", including Wang Chao, academician of the CAE Member, professor of the School of Environment of Hohai University, and several international academicians, including Joan Rose, academician of the National Academy of Engineering and director of the Water Research Center of Michigan State University, attended the conference. Ni Jinren, academician of the CAS Member, Yu Hanqing, academician of the CAE Member and vice president of the Water Society, Ke Bing, deputy director of the China Agenda 21 Management Center, Gertjan Medema, winner of the 2024 Lee Kuan Yew Water Award and professor of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, delivered keynote speeches for the conference.

In his speech, Wei Shengbin stated that in recent years, Hubei has firmly implemented the requirements of "jointly promoting large-scale protection and not engaging in large-scale development", and the construction of a beautiful Hubei has achieved positive results. In the future "water governance" process in Hubei, we hope to strengthen cooperation with all parties in improving the effectiveness of water environment governance, enhancing water ecological protection, and enriching the connotation of the water culture era, injecting strong momentum into the development of ecological and environmental protection in Hubei.

Speech by Wei Shengbin, Vice Governor of Hubei Province and Secretary General of the Provincial Government

Qu Jiuhui, President of the Conference, CAE Member, Vice President of the China Urban Science Research Association, and President of the Water Society, read out the top ten selected cases of ecological and environmental protection in the Yangtze River

In order to better summarize the phased achievements of the Yangtze River Protection and exchange and share practical experience, the China Urban Science Research Association launched the "Collection and Selection of Excellent Practice Cases for the Yangtze River Protection" in March this year, selecting 10 excellent cases. Academician Qu Jiuhui announced the list of selected projects at the opening ceremony. The Ankang Jiangnan Reclaimed Water Plant Project of the Group was rated as the "2024 First Great Yangtze River Protection Excellent Practice Case (Engineering Project)", which showed significant advantages in progressiveness of technology and concept, operation effect, demonstration and typicality, ecological environment benefits and contribution, social satisfaction, project quality and economy, and made important contributions to promoting ecological environment protection and sustainable development of the Yangtze River.

Academician Qu Jiuhui (first from the right) presented the award to representatives of engineering project cases, and Pang Hongtao (third from the left), Assistant to the President of the Group and Director of the Engineering Technology Center, took the stage to receive the award

  At the opening ceremony, the Water Association released its 2024 annual report "Progress and Prospects of Urban Rainwater and Sewage Pipeline Construction" and a science popularization series, and held the inaugural release ceremony of "Water&Ecology". As the co founding editor of the journal, Joan Rose, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and director of the Michigan State University Water Research Center, delivered a speech to the journal. Academician Qu Jiuhui, together with Joan Rose, Hu Chengzhi, Deputy Director of the Ecological Environment Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other scholars and entrepreneurs, jointly "lit up" the launching ceremony of Water&Ecology.

Speech by Joan Rose, Academician of the National Academy of Engineering and Director of the Water Research Center at Michigan State University in the United States

Launching ceremony of the inaugural publication of Water&Ecology

The keynote report was presided over by Yang Zhifeng, an academician of the CAE Member and a professor of Guangdong University of Technology. Academician Ni Jinren's report starts from the relationship between civilization and river basins, discussing the ecological, environmental, and health significance of the inheritance of the Yellow River elements. Academician Yu Hanqing, full of admiration and warmth, conducted a systematic review of the academic achievements and contributions of Professor Perry McCarty, an environmental engineering giant. The report by Ke Bing, Deputy Director of the China Agenda 21 Management Center, titled "Scientific and Technological Progress, Problems and Reflections in the Field of Water Environment in China", reviewed China's water environment governance strategy and significant achievements, and presented an evaluation of China's water environment technology development stage and level from a global perspective. Professor Gertjan Medema from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, as an expert in microbiology, explained the "natural path to green, sustainable, and safe water supply", introduced a water safety management system and related models based on human health, and combined with the case of Shanghai Jiading, China Water Environment Group, explained in detail the characteristics of green water supply technologies such as shore filtration and artificial replenishment of aquifers.

Academician Ni Jinren, Academician Yu Hanqing, Deputy Director Ke Bing, and Professor Gertjan Medema delivered keynote speeches respectively

Professor Gertjan Medema from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands introduces the group's Shanghai Jiading project

The theme report and discussion session were presided over by Professor Liu Yong, Dean of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University. Wang Chao, an academician of the CAE Member and a professor of the School of Environment of Hohai University, gave a report on "Great Conservation of the Yangtze River - Exploration of the Source of the Yangtze River", Wang Kaijun, a professor of the School of Environment of Tsinghua University, Hou Feng, Vice President of the Water Environment and Water Ecology Branch of the Urban Science Society and Chairman of the China Water Environment Group, Qin Boqiang, a researcher of the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Lakes Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Wen Donghui, a professor of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University, carried out exchanges and.

Discussion session of the conference

Hou Feng, Chairman of China Water Environment Group, gave a presentation during the discussion session

Chairman Hou Feng shared the successful application of the international first urban scale distributed sinking and regeneration water ecosystem in the ecological protection of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, based on the comprehensive management case of Nanming River in Guiyang. This project takes urban domestic sewage as the second water source, innovates and practices the technology system of distributed sinking and regeneration water ecosystem at the urban scale, solves the technical difficulties of urban domestic sewage collection, treatment, regeneration and reuse, and river management coordination, realizes the integration of water resources, water environment, and water ecology in river basin management, and contributes to the "Guiyang model" of urban mother river management.

The conference has set up a special "Youth Forum", focusing on exploring the synergistic balance between academic freedom and organized research. Excellent young scholars and forward-looking entrepreneurs are invited to jointly examine and explore the diverse forms and organizational strategies of scientific research. The conference is chaired by Xu Ming, Vice Dean of the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, Professor of Carbon Neutrality, and Director of the Artificial Function Research Center for Ecological Environment. Pang Hongtao, Assistant to the President of the Group and Executive Director of the Engineering Technology Center, was invited to participate and exchange ideas.

Pang Hongtao, Assistant to the President of the Group and Executive Director of the Engineering Technology Center, shares the Ankang project

At the "Excellent Practice Cases of Yangtze River Protection" special forum, Pang Hongtao shared the successful practice of the Jiangnan Reclaimed Water Plant project in Ankang City. The project uses an intelligent 3D sinking plant design system to carry out intensive and coordinated design of land space, and utilizes energy-saving control technologies such as low-temperature drying, water source heat pump, and natural lighting to achieve high efficiency, low-carbon, and energy-saving, forming a demonstration complex of "factory building integration".