NBS Global Innovation Center Unveiled at Peking University

On April 24, 2024, with the support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the unveiling ceremony for Peking University’s “NBS Global Innovation Center” was held at the College of Architecture and Landscape . The ceremony was designed to support and align with the 2024 Earth Day campaign, with the aim of advancing innovative research on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to provide new ideas and solutions for addressing the challenges of climate change and ecological and environmental issues. During the event, the “Asia Center for Nature-based Solutions Innovation Hub” was also officially unveiled.

The ceremony was presided over by Zhang Yan, Director of the IUCN China Office. Charles Karangwa, Director of the IUCN Global Centre for Nature-based Solutions, and Yu Kongjian, Dean of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University, unveiled the plaque for the “Peking University Global Innovation Center for Nature-based Solutions.” Meanwhile, Ms. Luo Ming, Executive Deputy Director of the Asian Centre for Nature-based Solutions, and Professor Yu Kongjian unveiled the plaque for the “Asian Centre for Nature-based Solutions Innovation Hub.”

北京大学 “NBS全球创新中心”揭牌仪式

Inauguration Ceremony for the “Asia Center for Nature-Based Solutions Innovation Hub”

The IUCN, or International Union for Conservation of Nature, was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Gland, Switzerland. As one of the world’s largest and most influential international nature conservation organizations, it is dedicated to addressing the world’s most pressing environmental and development challenges and identifying effective nature-based solutions. Its primary mission is to influence, encourage, and assist scientists and communities worldwide in preserving the integrity and diversity of natural resources. This includes saving endangered plant and animal species, establishing national parks and nature reserves, assessing the conservation status of species and ecosystems, and ensuring that the use of natural resources is balanced and ecologically sustainable. IUCN’s work focuses on protecting biodiversity and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources, developing strategies and plans for the conservation and management of forests, wetlands, coastal, and marine resources.

Charles Karangwa traveled to Peking University specifically to preside over the award ceremony on behalf of the IUCN. In his remarks, he highly commended the research and practice team at Peking University’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture for their more than 20 years of dedication to exploring and implementing nature-based solutions that promote harmonious coexistence with nature. The team has deeply engaged in research and practice in areas such as ecological security frameworks, ecological infrastructure, water-adaptive landscape planning and design, sponge cities, and ecological restoration theory, achieving fruitful academic results and accumulating a wealth of engineering case studies. Over 1,000 projects have been completed across more than 250 cities in over 10 countries worldwide. These achievements not only serve the national strategies of ecological civilization and the construction of a “Beautiful China,” but also provide Chinese wisdom and experience to the world in addressing global climate issues and healing the Earth’s ecosystems. The team has won over 100 international honors, including 16 ASLA Excellence and Honor Awards, 7 WAF Awards, 5 AZ Awards, as well as the Holsum Award, the ULI Excellence Award, and domestic provincial and ministerial-level Science and Technology Progress Awards, along with the Gold Award at the 10th China Art Exhibition. More than 20 projects have been included in European and American textbooks, and over 60 projects have become national models, including 4 IUCN international examples of nature-based solutions, as well as 30 national water conservancy scenic areas, national wetland parks, and sponge city demonstrations. These scientific and technological achievements have been presented at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) Annual Meeting, featured in an official tweet by the 2021 UN Climate Summit and promoted by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and showcased at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28). Special articles highlighting these achievements have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the World Health Organization (WHO) Bulletin. Over 200 feature articles, including cover stories in *Scientific American* and *MIT Technology Review*, as well as domestic and international theses, have provided in-depth coverage of these achievements. He has been invited multiple times to lecture for the IUCN, training a large number of professionals for global Nature-based Solutions (NbS) initiatives. As the leader of the Center, Yu Kongjian has also received numerous top-tier international honors, including the Oberlander Prize, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, the IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award, and the John Cobb Common Good Award.

Following the unveiling ceremony, attendees engaged in in-depth discussions on future working frameworks and exchange mechanisms. This ceremony not only marked the official launch of the NBS Global Innovation Center but also provided the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University and its partners with a new platform for jointly exploring innovative nature-based solutions.

Engineers Gao Yan and Zhao Nana from the Key Laboratory of Land Reclamation under the Ministry of Natural Resources; IUCN project officers Liu Yuting and Hu Juntao; Li Dihua, Vice Dean of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University, and research assistant Wu Shanshan; Zhou Mingbo, Director of the Office of the Landscape Architecture and Beautiful China Construction Committee of the China Urban Science Society; researcher Wang Dong; as well as He Jingbo and Zhong Liheng, senior experts from Ant Group, also attended the unveiling ceremony.

Text by Wu Shanshan