(Left) Scilight Press’ team members: Ms. Manjing Xu, Dr. Avery Yi, and Mr. Edwin Zhang. (Right) IRDR IPO’s team members: Ms. Fang Lian, Prof. Saini Yang, and Ms. Kerry-Ann Morris.
On 23 April 2026, a delegation from the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk International Programme Office (IRDR IPO), led by Executive Director Prof. Saini Yang, met with the management team of Scilight Press, a Beijing-based international academic publishing house, to formalise a new strategic partnership.
The visit had two main goals: to explore collaborative opportunities in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and sustainable development, and to sign a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) solidifying the alliance.
Key Areas of Collaboration
Signed by Prof. Saini Yang and Scilight Press founder Dr. Avery Yi, the MoU establishes a framework for cooperation in three key areas.
Joint publications and knowledge production, including but not limited to: special issues in peer-reviewed journals, working papers and policy briefs.
Capacity building and research support, including but not limited to: training programmes for early-career researchers, open-access education materials, and possible waivers of article processing charges (APCs).
Joint events and collaborative research, including but not limited to: co-organising of meetings and conferences, and joint research and data projects.
The five-year MoU solidifies a growing collaboration between the two organizations. Currently, IRDR is preparing a special issue for Scilight’s journal, the Journal of Hazards, Risk and Resilience. The issue will focus on advancing community-based DRR and climate change adaptation, with special emphasis on innovative research led by young scientists.
About Scilight Press
Scilight Press is an international academic publisher specialising in open-access peer-reviewed journals and books. As a global multidisciplinary publisher, Scilight provides a platform for researchers, scholars, and academics to disseminate their work across a wide range of disciplines. Established in 2019 in Melbourne, Australia, Scilight Press has rapidly expanded its global footprint with offices in Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai, and Hainan, China. Scilight Press currently publishes 77 active journals across a broad spectrum of disciplines, with several titles recognised in major international indexes including Scopus and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of Web of Science.
