On September 7, 2017 in U.K at the Closing Ceremony of ICFM7, Chairman of the International Conference on Flood Management (ICFM) Prof. Slobodan P. Simonovic declared the ICFM Permanent Secretariat would be hosted in IWHR.
ICFM, a cross-industrial and inter-disciplinary international exchange platform, has been held successfully for 7 times since initiated in 1999 in Germany. ICFM2 was held in Beijing, China by IWHR and Tsinghua University jointly. This year, the conference was organized by water@leeds, the water research center at the University of Leeds. Under the theme of “Resilience to Climate Change-Anticipating the Unexpected”, ICFM7 attracted more than 300 delegates from the water sector and related industries across the world. Vice Director Wan Haibin of China’s Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters attended the conference and made a keynote report. IWHR Vice President Peng Jing headed a 15-person delegation to participate in the conference.
On September 5, 2017, Wang Haibin delivered a keynote speech on “Advance in the Emergency Management of Flood Control and Disaster Reduction of China” at the closing ceremony, giving a comprehensive introduction to the current status of flood control and disaster reduction management and achievements obtained, the challenges facing the new stage of development, and solutions of China. Representatives present at the conference shared China’s practice and experience, and were warmly responded and highly appraised.
On behalf of IWHR, Dr. Peng Jing attended the Executive Board Meeting where she elaborated on the application for hosting ICFM Permanent Secretariat, and also made a statement of IWHR’s commitments after the chairman’s declaration at the closing ceremony. As the host of ICFM Permanent Secretariat, IWHR will provide corresponding working conditions, proactively assist ICFM Executive Board and Local Organizing Committee with coordination and connection, take charge of the construction and management of its exchange platform, and make more contributions to the international cooperation and exchange on flood management.
In the three days of discussion, 6 keynote reports from China, U.K., the Netherlands, Canada and Japan were made, covering policies, laws, technology, investment and insurance associated with flood management. In total, 31 parallel sessions were held, and paper exhibition and technology exhibition also took place. Technological content covered flood risk assessment and management, disaster and infrastructure loss, impact of economic and social factors on flood management and its resilience, and climate change challenges, which signaled the trend of inter-disciplinary and cross-industrial collaboration and improvement to disaster resilience in flood management. IWHR experts took part in all ICFM7 activities, including Executive Board Meeting, keynote reports, session reports and exhibitions, and interacted actively with representatives from various countries to share concepts, technologies and practical experience.
The ICFM8 will be held at the University of Iowa in August, 2020.
