5th Asian Conference on Geography Held in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam

The 5th Asian Conference on Geography Held in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam

 

 

From September 5th to 9th, 2022, the 5th Asian Conference on Geography (ACG) was held in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam. As the key biennial academic event under the auspice of Asian Geographical Association (AGA), this conference was co-organized by Thai Nguyen University (TNU), Association of Vietnamese Geographers (AVG), Institute of Geography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). Under the theme “Geography in Dynamic Asia”, the conference was attended by over 360 participants from 26 countries and regions worldwide physically and virtually.

Opening Ceremony

 

The opening ceremony took place on the morning of 6th at Grand Hall of Thai Nguyen University of Education. The kick-off event begun with speeches by Prof. Dahe Qin, President of the AGA, Prof. Hoang Van Hung, President of the TNU and Prof. Nguyen Cao Huan, President of the AVG, who extended warm welcome to the delegates on-site and via online.

 

The opening ceremony was followed by plenary lecture session, co-chaired by Prof. Lai Vinh Cam, Vice President of the AGA and Prof. Yukio Himiyama, Past President of the International Geographical Union (IGU). Six keynote talks were given: Promoting Geography for Sustainable Development by Prof. Bojie Fu, Vice President of the IGU, Chairman of Supervisory Board of the Geographical Society of China (GSC), Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare Access among Older Adults in the Rural Areas in Vietnam: Does Travel Distance Matter? by Dr. Phuong Huu Khiem from the TNU, Challenges of Mountain Environments: Land Degradation and Conservation Strategies in the Indian Himalayan Region by Dr. Prabuddh Kumar Mishra from Shivaji College, University of Delhi, Land use/Land cover dynamics in Houaphan (Laos) and Son La (Vietnam) from 1990 to 2020, by Prof. Nguyen Dinh Duong from Institute of Geography, VAST, The Evolution of Confucian Landscape in the Andong Cultural Region, Korea: Universalism or Particularism? by Prof. Je-Hun RYU from Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, and Data-based Approach to Decision Making Process by Prof. Bui Quang Thanh, from Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University.

 

Plenary Lectures

 

During the conference, seven technical sessions and a workshop were organized by spanning a broad spectrum of geography and related various disciplines, focusing on the latest and recent achievements in the study of geography and the most concerned issues about Asia. The key topics of the sessions included Geographical Aspects and Sustainable Development, Socio-Demographic Variables and Globalization, Localization, Urbanization and the Future of Asian Cities, Climate Changes and Ecosystem, Natural Disasters and Remote Sensing - GIS, Geography of Culture and Tourism, Economic Geography and Global Shift in Asia and Asian Atlas of Culture and Heritage. A total of 93 oral presentations were made during one and a half days.

Technical Sessions 

 

On the afternoon of 8th, the AGA Council Meeting 2022 was also convened in a hybrid format. 31 delegates, invited guests and observers were present. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Dahe Qin and Prof. Lai Vinh Cam. The AGA adopted agenda of the meeting and Minutes of AGA Council Meeting 2019 unanimously. Dr. Ali Aldosari, President of the Saudi Geographical Society and Dr. Igor Okunev, Representative of the Association of Russian Human Geographers introduced their organizations and submitted their membership applications respectively. Secretary Ms. Xuanzi Zhang made a report on the work of AGA 2020-2022 and future activities of the Association. Prof. Jiang Xu, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Geographer presented the recent progress of the journal had made on subscription, submission and download and citation. Chair of Working Group on Cultural Geography Prof. Je-Hun Ryu and Chair of the Young Geographer Working Group Prof. Min Chen reported on the activities and visions of the working groups. Prof. Lai Vinh Cam presented the summary report of 5th Asian Conference on Geography on behalf of the Organizing Committee. During the open discussion, Prof. Mohammed A. Humran expressed the interest in joining the AGA on behalf of Yemen Geographical Society and Union of Arab Academics. At last, Prof. Dahe Qin expressed thanks to the participants present and closed the Council Meeting.

AGA Council Meeting 2022 (Hybrid)

 

Jointly initiated by the GSC, Association of Japanese Geographers (AJG), Korean Geographical Society (KGS), the Asian Conference on Geography (ACG) was inaugurated in 2015. The ACGs been successively held in Shanghai China in 2015, Sapporo Japan in 2016, Jeju Korea in 2017 and Guangzhou China in 2018. At the AGA Council Meeting Beijing 2019, Vietnam won the bid to host the 5th ACG. Despites two postponements after the pandemic, the 5th ACG was held in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam in September 2022. The ACG not only provides a rewarding platform for academic communication, exchange and collaboration among Asian geographers, but also demonstrates development achievements of Asia in the field of geography to the world.

 

  

 

September 2022

 

Provided by Xuanzi Zhang

Secretary

Asian Geographical Association