Invited by the organizing committee, Prof. LONG Hualou and Associate Prof. LI Yuheng from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences attended the 25th IGU-CSRS colloquium, held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 16-22 April, 2017.  

Prof. LONG chaired the session "Impacts of climate change on rural natural and economic systems" and made a presentation entitled “Rural Restructuring and Land Use Management”.  

Land consolidation could help restructure rural production, living and ecological space. The model and approach for rural spatial restructuring includes farmland concentration under large-scale management and administrative reorganization, he said. 

Restructuring can be enhanced by innovations based on land consolidation engineering technology and new policies, he added. 

Associate Prof. Yuheng presented the phenomenon of rural decline in the world and proposed ways like ruralization, public policies and clear planning initiatives, relocating villages and people's bottom-up initiatives to revitalize the declining villages in the world.  

During the colloquium, Hualou and Yuheng joined discussion with other peers and shared their knowledge and experiences of inclusive growth, sustainable land use and rural transition.

Over 80 participants from 18 countries attended the colloquium which generated much academic influence.  

This colloquium was organized by the Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems (CSRS) which is one of the forty commissions of the International Geographical Union (IGU). 

Related link: :Rural areas in transition need land consolidation, new training for farmers