Opening Ceremony of the 10th UNESCO/IOC-RTRC-ODC Training Course and 10th Anniversary Celebration Held
The opening ceremony of the 10th training course of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Regional Training and Research Center (RTRC) on Ocean Dynamics and Climate (ODC) and 10th-anniversary celebration was successfully held at the First Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources (FIO, MNR) on July 5, 2021. Sun Shengzhi, Deputy Inspector General of International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Vladimir Ryabinin, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO and Executive Secretary of the IOC, Dr. Kentaro Ando, Co-Chairperson of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC), and Zhu Wenxi, Head of UNESCO/IOC Regional Secretariat for WESTPAC attended the opening ceremony of this training course and the 10th-anniversary celebration of ODC Center and delivered speeches. All the participants fully affirmed the achievements of the ODC Training Course and warmly congratulated the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the ODC Center.
Scene of the event
With the theme of "Regional Application of Coupled Climate Models", the Training Course was held online and offline. Nine experts from five countries, including China, the United States, Australia, Japan, and Malaysia, gave lectures to 127 participants from 24 countries. Professor Tal Ezer, a world-famous ocean model expert and Editor-in-chief of Ocean Dynamics, a well-known academic journal, spoke on behalf of the teaching experts. He highly praised the work of the ODC Center and believed that it was an important contribution of China to the development of ocean science and technology and personnel training in the world. Dr. Azam, a Bangladeshi student, spoke on behalf of the trainees. He believed that the ODC Center provided high-level ability training in the field of ocean dynamics and climate for young scholars from developing countries. He had benefited a lot from the training course before, and the knowledge gained was directly applied to his own marine scientific research and Bangladeshi marine disaster reduction and prevention and ecological protection.
Professor Qiao Fangli, Director of the ODC Center, reviewed the important progress made by the Center in the past decade. The Center has made outstanding contributions to the international community in the fields of marine science and technology youth training, ocean model research and development, and scientific and technological services of ocean prediction systems. The ODC Center is the first training and research center established under the framework of IOC, and also the first marine training and research center undertaken by China under the framework of UNESCO. After years of development, the ODC Center has become a model of IOC's capacity building and training. The Center invites internationally renowned oceanographers to give lectures every year, and provides scientific and technological training in the fields of ocean dynamics and climate change for young scholars from various countries, especially developing countries and regions. It not only improves the students' scientific research ability but also vigorously promotes international cooperation and exchanges in the marine field, especially of the countries around the Western Pacific Ocean. Since its establishment, with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Center has held 10 international training courses for 522 students from more than 50 countries, most of whom are international students.
Group photo of participants