To A Courageous 2022

As the cycle of seasons again renews itself, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all members of YICODE for their devotion and diligence, and all people who have supported us in the past year. We wish you a happy new year!

In 2021, our paces in the conservation and green development of the Yangtze River were as firm as always, and we take proud in this fruitful year.

We are proud of our research. 2021 saw the conclusion of  five consultancy projects entrusted by the provincial Development and Reform Commission of Jiangsu. These projects provided very solid basis for policy making around the east route of the South-to-North Water Diversion, phosphorus control of the Taihu Lake, protection of the Yangtze porpoise while making better use of the golden waterway of the Yangtze, migration and sustainable development of the riparian chemical industries, and protection of the river shorelines in Jiangsu. We have successfully obtained funding from the National Key R&D Programmes of the 14th Five Year Plan for three projects, and the Innovation Research Group Fund of the Natural Science Foundation of China for another project. Our Yangtze River Protection and High Quality Development Report (2020) was successfully released. We provided expert opinions as a growing think-tank for protection of the intertidal zones of the Yangtze Estuary, restoration of coastlines and disaster mitigation, flood risk management and related topics among many others.

We are proud of our team. In 2021, we are very honoured to have been joined by 11 more outstanding scientists of this field. Moreover, the YICODE team is honoured that we have one more scientist elected as member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, three enlisted into China’s national talent programmes, one more laurelled as Jiangsu’s distinguished professor, another PhD student granted the provincial innovation fund, and one more team selected as Jiangsu’s innovation group. We are pleased that we also won the S&T Progress Award of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation, and five prizes under the National Da Yu Award, an award that is named after Yu the Great for outstanding water managers. We also feel excited that Prof Zhongbo Yu has been elected Chair of the UNESCO-IHP Intern-governmental Council and Prof Chunhui Lu invited to co-edit  Water Resources Research.

We are also proud of the influence we are making. Sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, we hosted the 3rd International Forum on Water Security and Sustainability in April, and saw the participation, many virtually online, of more than 2,000 people from around 20 countries. The Yangtze Lectures, our series talks on integrated river basin management, invited Profs Jiuhui Qu, Chao Wang, and Zuxin Xu, three CAE members, and Prof Chunmiao Zheng of Southern University of Science and Technology, to share their understandings and latest research. This summer, we also offered free courses to help students to prepare for their research they were about to start for their post-graduate studies.

While we greet the new year with aspirations, we also understand that the journey ahead requires passion, resolution and courage. But our mission we see in integrated river basin management stays the same, and will continue to guide and motivate us in our research and innovation.

Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true!