On 15-17 July 2015, Tsinghua University in Beijing is hosting “Climate Change and Urban Environment” an ANCST (Asian Network on Climate Science and Technology) Workshop. Tsinghua’s Professor Jianping Wu is a key member of the workshop’s organising committee. Dr. Joy Jacqueline Pereira, based at ANCST’s founding institution – the Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative, recently presented ANCST to IRDR’s Science Committee meeting.

ANCST is hosted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia with SEADPRI-UKM serving as the coordination centre and with support from the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust (CEMDT) in Association with the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre (MCSC) of Trinity College, Cambridge. The scope of ANCST encompasses the broad areas of climate science and technology with particular emphasis on disaster resilience, extreme climate events and urban climate change and related topics.

The workshop will serve as a platform for researchers, experts and environmental organizations from Asia and others countries to interact, share knowledge and expertise as well as build capacity in research and education on climate change and the urban environment. An important objective is to discuss future actions and establishment of a special interest group on climate change and the urban environment under the aegis of ANCST, which would then implement the actions and coordinate with other groups in Asia working on climate change.