Peter Wieringa, Tong Shijun, Jaap Kwadijk and Anneke Adema (From left to right)unveil the plaque of the research center.
THE Chongming Sino-Holland Joint Research Center of Ecology was inaugurated on December 18 in hopes of augmenting cooperation between ECNU and their counterparts in the Netherlands to promote advanced scientific research in the field of ecological studies and environment.
The research center is a brainchild of ECNU, Technische Universiteit Delft of the Netherlands and Deltares, an independently establish institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface elements based in the Netherlands.
The research center aims to create a platform for globally advanced scientific research by utlising preponderant areas of the three institutions’ professional or academic fields, thereby implementing a concerted effort on the path to build Chongming into a world-class ecological island.
The inaugural ceremony was presided over by ECNU vice president Wang Rongming. The key leaders unveiling the plaque of the research center including Anneke Adema, consul general of the Netherlands in Shanghai; Tong Shijun, Chairman of ECNU’s Unviersity Council; Peter Wieringa, vice president of Technische Universiteit Delft; and Jaap Kwadijk, vice head of Deltares. It was also witnessed by Tang Hailong, Party chief of Chongming District and Li Zheng, the district head.
The new establishment will introduce advanced management philosophies and technologies of the Netherlands in eco-agriculture, ecotourism, water resources, water conservancy projects, soil and water environment preservation and sustainable development in deltas as a way to solve the most pressing issues with technological developments in the local areas of Chongming.
After the ceremony, Stefan Aarninkhof, dean of the school of coastal engineering of Technische Universiteit Delft, delivered his report Construction must follow nature: sustainable coastal preserving wetlands.
Jaap Kwadijk gave a speech Climate change and sea level rise - unpredictabilities we must be ready for, while Zhang Lixin, chief of the Chongming District Reform and Development Commission, articulated about the current progress and development in Chongming.
Participants of the inauguration ceremony visit Chongming Planning Exhibition Hall.
The Chongming Sino-Holland Joint Research Center of Ecology is expected to bridge cooperation between China and the Netherlands in the areas of academic and scientific exchange. Thus expanding Sino-Holland initiatives with more universities and institutes in order to become a world-class base of innovation and development for ecologocial islands around the world.
According to a statement by Peter Wieringa, vice president of Technische Universiteit Delft, the research center intends to propel the importance of environmental factors between islands and cities. “In the foreseeable future, the Chongming case will become a model for ecological construction worldwide,” he said.
Chongming is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River near Shanghai, covering 1,267 square kilometers. The Chongming Sino-Holland Joint Research Center of Ecology has been promoted by ECNU, Technische Universiteit Delft of the Netherlands and Deltares as a launching point for scientific advancements in ecological studies and environmental impact.