The International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) 2023 IALE World Congress takes place in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 10 to 15, 2023. [Photo/IARRP]

In order to better accomplish the research tasks of the joint fund project "Evaluation of Cultivated Land Quality and Spatiotemporal Evolution in Red Soil Areas" and the general project of the National Natural Science Foundation's "Coupling Mechanism and Safety Pattern Optimization of Ecosystem Services Supply-Flow-Demand for Urban-Rural Integration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region", and to further strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, Deputy Researcher Sun Xiao and Dr. Liang Shefang from the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) went to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to attend the 11th International Association for Landscape Ecology(IALE) World Congress from July 10 to 15, 2023.

The congress was jointly organized by Kenyatta University (KU), Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), National Museum of Kenya (NMK), Climate Change and Adaptation Research Institute of the University of Nairobi (UON), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The collaborating institution also includes Africa-IALE (Africa-China International Association of Landscape Ecologists). The theme of the conference is "Transboundary Resource Management, Climate Change and Environmental Resilience".

During the visit, the delegation focused on topics such as climate, environment, and sustainable landscapes; agricultural landscapes and sustainable intensification;  enhancing landscape sustainability and resilience to extreme climate and external shocks;  resilience of agricultural landscapes; and sustainable planning for food security at temporal and spatial scales. The delegation engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges with foreign experts on issues such as water-energy-food nexus, ecological models, climate change, agricultural landscapes, and sustainable land use technologies. They also presented special reports on "How do ecosystem services supply-and-demand evolve across urban-rural transitional landscapes: Patterns, trade-offs, and optimization" and "Assessing sustainability synergies and tradeoffs of cereals in Northeast China."

The IALE World Congress occurs every four years and is the premier event for landscape ecologists worldwide to address topics in landscape ecology that range from local to global in scale. During the World Congress, landscape ecologists from public, private, and non-profit sectors will address a broad spectrum of environmental challenges and their potential solutions.

Through this congress, extensive communication with experts in the field worldwide will facilitate the timely access to international cutting-edge information and promote the smooth execution of the project. At the same time, attendees can learn from and draw upon theoretical and practical experiences from abroad in areas such as agricultural climate resilience, improvement of arable land quality, and sustainable utilization.

The International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) 2023 IALE World Congress takes place in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 10 to 15, 2023. [Photo/IARRP]

The International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) 2023 IALE World Congress takes place in Nairobi, Kenya, from July 10 to 15, 2023. [Photo/IARRP]