From April 9 to 14, 2013, BNU experts on Geography went to New York for the Annual Meeting of Association of American Geographers (AAG).

During the conference, BNU delegation organized the session of Integrated Natural Disaster Reduction and Sustainable Development in China for experts studying global change and integrated risk governance. This session discussed assessment model and adaptation paradigm against the backdrop of global climate changes and environmental risks, which highlighted on the latest progress of the national key scientific research program organized by BNU of Global Change and Environmental Risk's Evolution Process and Its Integrated Assessment Model. Professor Shi Peijun, Chief Scientist of the project delivered a keynote report titled “Climate Change Risk and its Integrated Governance”. The session also invited Mr. Bob Dixson, Mayor of Greensburg City, in Kansas of United States, to introduce the reconstruction experience of the city after the destructive 5 magnitude tornado in 2007, and to discuss the adaptation plans and sustainable concepts of catastrophe reconstruction amid global changes.

During the conference, Professor Wang Jing’ai from School of Geography of BNU and Dr. Rudi Hartmann from University of Colorado at Denver examined and revised the contents of the co-edited Comparative Geography: China and the U.S. (Version 2) chapter by chapter.

By taking this opportunity, our delegation introduced and promoted the 10-year core international scientific plan of IHDP-IRG jointly initiated by Beijing Normal University and the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research, and organized the meeting for IRG South American office. The above academic exchanges successfully introduced the latest research progress of BNU in geological science, climate change and risk governance, strengthened communication and cooperation among experts and scholars in the relavant scientific area.