Asia Spotlight Event at SRI2022

As the largest and most populous continent in the world, Asia plays an extremely important role in global climate change research and response. To raise awareness and propel discussions about sustainable priorities for Asia, the Asia Spotlight Event was held from June 21 to June 24, 2022 as part of the SRI2022 held in Pretoria, South Africa. The Spotlight event was hosted by Future Earth Global Secretariat China in coordination with all Hubs in Asia, including Japan, South Asia, Taipei and also the US hub. 

The following 20 sessions were featured in Asia Spotlight Event of SRI 2022.

  1. Asia Spotlight Event Opening Plenary – Asian Regional Climate Modeling, Impact Assessment and Action

The opening plenary session for the Asia Spotlight Event was aimed to enhance mutual understanding and exchanges among the researchers, broke down the current disciplinary barriers, carried out cooperative research activities, promoted discipline building in the related fields, and made the research results of natural and social sciences more actively serve the sustainable development. 

  1. Networking Event – Asia Community

This open networking session was a great opportunity for the professionals, researchers, and practitioners in the field of sustainable development to meet and discuss their work for any potential collaboration. 

  1. Adapting the impacts of typhoons on coastal livelihoods and socio-ecosystems under climate changes

This session aimed to cover a wide range of interdisciplinary issues related to the coastal livelihoods and socio-ecosystems that are impacted by the typhoons. 

  1. Cryosphere Science for Sustainability

This session aimed to strengthen the systematical and in-depth understanding of the cryosphere-anthroposphere relationship through the dialogues by international well-known experts in the field of natural and social sciences.

  1. Processing, Management, Explanation, and Demonstration for the Environmental Open Data

This session addressed the recent developments, problems, and solutions to the issues related to open data and discussed the ethics of providing or using the open data for public/environmental affairs. 

  1. Climate Change and Sustainable Development of the Greater Bay Area

This session aimed to understand the impact of climate change on the eco-environment and economic development in the four Greater Bay Areas of the world, with particular interests in climate projections and corresponding countermeasures, and for improving disaster pre-warning and forecasting abilities. 

  1. Harnessing Transdisciplinary in Sustainability Research and Education: Open Thermodynamic Systems Framework

This session has attempted to demonstrate the potential transformability and scalability of the open thermodynamic system frameworks. 

  1. Networking Event – Asia Early Career Researchers

This session has provided an excellent opportunity of networking with other Asian young researchers and professionals at the SRI2022. 

  1. Science & Practice: Exploring Ocean Resilience and Blue Carbon Initiatives

This session has discussed the institutional dynamics, policy integration, and responsive governance across different countries, to expand and strengthen the blue carbon initiative.

  1. The Human Side of Water Research

In this session, a diverse set of practitioners and researchers working on issues of climate change, water and health, share their experiences of working with communities across the country and highlights the importance of making water research more people-centric.

  1. Innovativeness in Industrialization Cost of Trust

This session took live cases from Indian subcontinent and analyzed the Design Thinking and System Thinking approach for reaching qualitative results to demonstrate the hypothesis accounted for establishing the theory of trust.

  1. An Innovative Future for GHG Mitigation and Sustainable Development

This session has targeted to present an innovative picture of future by inviting speakers from different research teams, with presentations focusing on mitigation pathways towards achieving the Paris Agreement targets. 

  1. Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for Addressing Human-Nature Conflicts in the Sub-Saharan Africa Region

This session has outlined how Asian governments and institutes in partnership with EU and US and other stakeholders can address the above-mentioned problems through a coordinated approach by building a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) by connecting the government agencies and research institutions.

  1. Online Synthesis Systems (OSS): A Web-Based Knowledge Integration System for Disaster Risk Reduction, Resilience and, Sustainability

This session proposed as a useful tool (Online Synthesis Systems) for Disaster risk reduction, Resilience and Sustainability, which was a web-based knowledge integration system.

  1. COVID-19, Governance and Migrant Workers: Hindsight, Insight and Foresight

This session has focused on the issues of migrant workers and examines the impact of  COVID-19 pandemic on them in the Global South countries.

  1. AiR Pollution – Climate Change – Health Effects (ARCH) Nexus

This session was jointly organized, which was aiming to provide highlights on recent research findings and identify next steps for collaboration, such as forming a joint working group and developing Air-Climate-Health Science Insights Report etc.

  1. Challenges in Urban Climate Data Management: Transformation of Cities for Climate Change Mitigations and Adaptation Targets

This session aimed to discuss the role of knowledge and knowledge generation with integrated actions, impacts, and solutions delivered by different stakeholders, public and private sectors; supported by civil society, academicians and researchers.

  1. When Super Storms Devastate Coastal Areas: Science and Policy Innovations toward Socio-Ecological Resilience

This session highlighted how coastal areas are severely affected by perennial occurrence of super typhoons. 

  1. Future Earth Asia Initiative- ‘Resilience in the face of adversity: Building climate-smart agriculture systems’

This session has discussed food loss and waste to accomplish regional climate goals and alleviate environmental stress.

  1. Asia Spotlight Event Closing Plenary: Spotlights on Sustainability & Innovation from Asia – Towards a Sustainable Future

The Closing Plenary has provided the space to reflect back on inspiring discussions related to the themes: New Horizons, Different Ways of Knowing, Nexus Issues and Cross-Cutting Science and Innovation in Asia.