NYIT and PKU to Host Global Sustainable Megacities Events in Beijing

NYIT and its “EcoPartner,” Peking University (PKU), with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), will co-host a conference and workshop next month in Beijing, China. “Sustainable Megacities: Food, Energy, Water, and the Built Environment” will take place Oct. 20 and 21.

NYIT’s Dean of Engineering and Computing Sciences Nada Marie Anid, Ph.D., will join Chunmiao Zheng, Ph.D., of PKU’s Institute of Water Sciences, and other key researchers with links to the two universities’ U.S.-China EcoPartnership under the U.S. Department of State U.S.-China Ten-Year Framework for Cooperation on Energy and Environment. A champion of global education, NYIT has a record of successfully gathering stakeholders from various disciplines to address global challenges.

This year’s EcoPartnership forum explores issues related to agriculture, population, water, and energy within urban environments. Participants include NYIT President Edward Guiliano, Ph.D.; Carolyn Szum of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Vincent Tidwell of Sandia National Laboratories; Jennifer L. Turner of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars; and Wuhan University’s Xiaohui Cui. Attendees will also hear from NSF's Bruce Hamilton and Nancy Sung, and Changqing Song of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Other organizations concerned with sustainable megacities will also send representatives.

The workshop is funded by an NSF grant and will explore scientific challenges of mutual interest to the U.S. and China in relation to the food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus. Members of the global research and education community will attend the workshop to lay groundwork for U.S.-China FEW partnerships and to spur collaborations, engagement, and data-sharing.

“More than half of the world’s population now dwells in cities," said Anid. "EcoPartners NYIT and PKU are eager to investigate the environmental challenges associated with the threats of increasing urbanization and to pursue concrete steps to address them.”

For more information, visit the "Sustainable Megacities" events webpage and NSF's website.