The 35th International Geographical Congress (IGC) took place in Dublin, Ireland on 24-30 August 2024. This congress was hosted by the International Geographical Union (IGU) and organized by the Geographical Society of Ireland and Dublin City University (DCU). Under the theme “Celebrating a World of Difference,” more than 2,600 scientists from over 100 countries attended the plenary keynote talks, 200 parallel sessions, exhibitions, the IGU General Assembly and field trips. Notably, the ATES delegation, led by Chair of ATES, Prof. CHEN Fahu, actively participated in various congress events.
On 25 August, the IGU General Assembly officially endorsed a new commission titled “Silk Road Civilizations and Environments” chaired by Prof. CHEN Fahu. This new IGU commission aims to further understand the fundamental roles of environmental change in the evolution of the Silk Road by revealing human migration processes, food, culture, and social systems establishment, as well as their relationships with the emergence and collapse of nations, empires and civilizations in the region. This initiative has gained significant involvement from prominent scientists across Europe, East Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, fostering enhanced international collaboration and exchanges in the Silk Road regions.
On 27-28 August, two sessions were organized by ATES, respectively titled “Human-environmental Interactions in the Ancient Silk Road regions” and “Interactions between the Silk Road and the Eurasian Steppe since the Neolithic era”. A total of 17 oral presentations drew significant audience interest. These ATES sessions were convened by ITPCAS and Lanzhou University together with University of Giessen (Germany) and University of Birmingham (UK).
On 29 August, the IGU Honors and Awards Committee presented prestigious awards at the Closing Ceremony of the 35th International Geographical Congress. “Dr. CAO Xianyong, professor at ITPCAS and core member of ATES Working Group 6, received the IGU Early Career Award in Geography, recognizing his significant contributions to the field.
