2° Sino-Italian Workshop on Mountain Hazards

26 May 2025   News
Padua, May 18, 2025 – The official visit of Professor Zhou Qi, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), took place at the headquarters of the Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection of the National Research Council (CNR-IRPI) in Padua, as part of the 2nd Sino-Italian Workshop on Mountain Hazards.
The event marked a high-level scientific and institutional occasion, reinforcing the fifteen-year collaboration between Italy and China in the field of geological and hydrological hazard research, which led to the establishment of the Sino-Italian Lab on Geological and Hydrological Hazards in 2014. The Chinese delegation, led by Vice President Zhou Qi, included representatives from CAS, the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE) in Chengdu—partners in the joint laboratory—and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research in Beijing. The delegation was welcomed at the Padua Research Area by Alessandro Pasuto, Co-Director of the Joint Laboratory and Head of the IRPI unit in Padua, along with colleagues from IRPI, ISAC, and the University of Bologna.
Vice President Zhou Qi delivered an opening speech emphasizing the importance of international cooperation in addressing natural hazard challenges in mountainous areas, particularly in the context of climate change. Pasuto highlighted the commitment of CNR and CAS in supporting the collaboration between IRPI and IMHE, and the strengthening of the Sino-Italian network, which now includes new research institutes and universities from both countries, as well as international organizations such as ANSO DRR (Alliance of International Science Organizations on Disaster Risk Reduction).
During the seminar, the following topics were presented:
  • The results of the scientific cooperation between CNR and CAS;
  • The research activities carried out by the joint laboratory;
  • The Chinese National Research and Development Program;
  • New projects involving the Joint Laboratory, including EU-funded initiatives.
The meeting confirmed the strength of the Italy-China collaboration and laid the groundwork for new joint initiatives, with the shared goal of developing scientific and technological solutions for mitigating natural hazards in complex and active mountainous environments.