Dongying, China

3rd Roundtable of Wetland City Mayors

15-17 October 2024

3rd Roundtable of Wetland City Mayors

The Ramsar Regional Center – East Asia (RRC-EA) continues to support the Wetland City Accreditation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Wetland City Network. The first and second Roundtables of Wetland City Mayors were held in Suncheon City in the Republic of Korea and Amiens City in France, respectively. Following these events, Dongying City in China is hosting the “2024 Roundtable of Wetland City Mayors” scheduled on 15-17 October 2024.

In this meeting, Wetland Cities will have the opportunity to engage in two days of technical and policy level discussions, and to join a one-day field trip to the Shandong Yellow River Delta Ramsar Site, Yellow River Estuary Cultural Museum, and Dongying city parks. The Shandong Yellow River Delta Ramsar Site is an almost naturally intact estuary, which serves as an important migratory waterbird staging and wintering area.

Mayors and officials of Wetland Cities will also convene to deliberate on planned activities of the network “Wetland City Network Action Plan 2025-2028”, network membership guidelines and other related matters. The Wetland City Network Action Plan provides the basis for operationalizing the Wetland City Network Strategic Plan through specific activities for implementation by the Wetland Cities and the Wetland City Network Secretariat, in cooperation with partner organizations.

Venue

Dongying Hotel

No. 108 Fuqian Road, Dongying District, Dongying City, Shandong Province

8062559@126.com

+86 546 6209666

China

Dongying

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Meeting rooms

Breakfast: Cafeteria (1F of main building)   *open: 07:00-09:00

Banquet/Lunch/Supper: Yellow River Hall (2F of main building)
For plenary sessions: Huaxia Hall (Annex building)
For parallel session 1 & 3: Huaxia Hall (Annex building)
For parallel session 2 & 4: 301 Meeting Room (3F of main building)
For the Wetland City Network meeting: 301 Meeting Room (3F of main building)

Guidance to the location of the meeting rooms can be found in the floor plan. The organizers will also install signages in English and Chinese. English and Chinese-speaking staff will also be available to assist participants.

Registration

Participants are requested to register at the information desk to claim their name badges. Registration will open at 8:00 on 14 October 2024.

Dress code

Banquet night: formal attire (for the welcome banquet)

Day 1 and 2: formal attire (for group photos)
Day 3: casual attire (for the small boat trip to the Qingfeng Lake and field visit to Shandong Yellow River Delta Ramsar Site)

Internet access

Free access to the internet via Wi-Fi is available inside the meeting venue.

Interpretation services

Simultaneous interpretation services are available in English, Chinese, Korean and French inside the plenary session room, parallel session rooms and the Wetland City Network meeting room. Headsets will be available on tables in front of the meeting rooms. Participants are requested to return the headsets when leaving the meeting rooms.

Field trip

The field trip will consist of two parts in the morning and afternoon of October 17.

Part 1: Yellow River Estuary Cultural Museum and city parks
  1. Dongying hotel
  2. Qingfeng Lake Scenic Area
  3. Yellow River Cultural Museum

Part 2: Shandong Yellow River Delta Ramsar Site

  1. Bird Museum of the Yellow River Delta
  2. Plank road in the Willows
  3. Yellow River Delta Environmental Monitoring Center

Agenda

No. Item Responsible person/Unit Requested action Document
1
Opening and welcome message
Incumbent Chair,
Wetland City Network: Amiens, France
2
Report of the incumbent Chair of the Wetland City Network
Amiens, France
3
Election of new Chair of Wetland City Network
Incumbent Chair, Wetland City Network Members, and Wetland City Network Secretariat
4
Adoption of meeting agenda
Wetland City Network Members
5
Report of the Wetland City Network Secretariat
Wetland City Network Secretariat
6
2024 Wetland City Youth Forum Declaration
Jeju, Republic of Korea
English
7
Dongying Declaration
Dongying, China
English
Chinese
Korean
French
8
Wetland City Network Action Plan 2025-2028
Wetland City Network Secretariat
English
Chinese
Korean
French
9
Wetland City Network Membership Guidelines
Wetland City Network Secretariat
English
Chinese
Korean
French
10
Sustainable financing mechanism
Wetland City Network Secretariat
11
Internship exchange program
Wetland City Network Secretariat
12
Other matters
Wetland City Network Members
13
Date and venue of next meeting
Wetland City Network Members
14
Closing message
New Chair, Wetland City Network: Dongying, China

Program of activities

Day 0

14 October 2024, Monday

Time Activity
18:00 – 20:00
Welcome banquet

venue: Yellow River (Huanghe) Hall (2F of main building)

Day 1

15 October 2024, Tuesday

Time Activity
9:00 – 9:40
Opening messages
venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • Mr. Wen Nuan, Vice Governor, Shandong Province, China
  • Mr. Yan Zhen, Vice Administrator, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China
  • Mr. Yang Guoqiang, Secretary of Dongying Municipal Party Committee, Dongying, China
  • Mr. Jay Aldous, Deputy Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
  • Mr. Seung Oh Suh, Executive Director, Ramsar Regional Center - East Asia
9:40 – 9:55
coffee/tea break
Photo opportunity
9:55 – 11:45
Keynote presentations
venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • Protection and management practices of China's international Wetland Cities
    - Mr. Daming Bao, Deputy Director, Wetland Management Department, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China
  • Optimization model for ecological conservation and restoration of wetlands in the Yellow River Delta
    - Mr. Mingxiang Zhang, Secretary General, Nature Reserve Research Center, National Forestry and Grassland Administration; and Professor, Beijing Forestry University
  • Celebrating cities contributions to protecting and restoration wetlands
    - Ms. Kobie Brand, Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability; and Regional Director, ICLEI Africa Secretariat (pre-recorded video)

Moderator: Dr. Gert Michael Steiner, former Chair, Independent Advisory Committee of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands; and Professor, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Austria

(30 minutes per presentation followed by 20-minute panel discussion)
11:45 – 12:00
free visit
12:00 – 13:30
Lunch break
venue: Yellow River (Huanghe) Hall (2F of main building)
13:30 – 15:05
Parallel sessions 1 and 2
  • parallel session 1 venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • parallel session 2 venue: Meeting Room 301 (3F of main building)

(15 minutes per presentation followed by 20-minute panel discussion per parallel session)
15:05 – 15:20
coffee/tea break
15:20 – 16:55
Parallel sessions 3 and 4
  • parallel session 3 venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • parallel session 4 venue: Meeting Room 301 (3F of main building)

(15 minutes per presentation followed by 20-minute panel discussion per parallel session)
18:00 – 19:30
Buffet supper
venue: Yellow River (Huanghe) Hall (2F of main building)
19:30 – 22:00
Meeting of Wetland Cities in China

Day 2

16 October 2024, Wednesday

Time Activity
9:00 – 10:15
Plenary presentations 1
Partnerships for technical cooperation
venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • The development process and prospects of the International Mangrove Center
    - Dr. Lyu Cai, Associate Professor, Beijing Forestry University; and Deputy Director, Center for East Asian-Australasian Flyway Studies
  • MedWet: A multi-scale approach for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands
    - Mr. Chris Rostron, Coordinator, The Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative
  • Capacity building for nature-based disaster risk reduction: Wetlands and partnerships
    - Dr. Missaka Hettiarachchi, Senior Fellow, Environment and Disaster Management Program of WWF; and Adjunct Professor, School of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Australia
  • Realization of the value of ecological products in national parks
    - Mr. Xu Weihua, Vice President, National Forestry and Grassland Administration - National Park Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Moderator: Mr. Jay Aldous, Deputy Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

(15 minutes per presentation followed by 15-minute panel discussion)
10:15 – 10:30
coffee/tea break
10:30 – 11:45
Plenary presentations 2
Current wetland topics
venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • Scaling up wetland conservation and restoration to deliver the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: Guidance on including wetlands in NBSAPs
    - Dr. Matthew Simpson, Director, 35 Percent
  • Wetland School Network in China and Asia
    - Dr. Chen Kelin, Director, International Wetlands and Rivers Beijing
  • Wetland ecological restoration based on Nature-based Solutions - The dance of collaborative symbiosis between humans and nature
    - Mr. Yuan Xingzhong, Professor, Chongqing University
  • Developing bird-friendly Wetland Cities to facilitate Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
    - Dr. Shi Jianbin, Advisor and Director of Conservation Program, Paulson Institute

Moderator: Ms. Libuse Vlasakova, incumbent Chair, Independent Advisory Committee of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands; Ramsar National Focal Point of Czechia; and Standing Committee member representing Europe

(15 minutes per presentation followed by 15-minute panel discussion)
11:45 – 13:30
lunch break
venue: Yellow River (Huanghe) Hall (2F of main building)
13:30 – 16:30
Meeting of the Wetland City Network
venue: Meeting Room 301 (3F of main building)
17:00 – 17:30
Closing program
venue: Huaxia Hall (annex building)
  • Handover ceremony by the current host city (Dongying, China)
  • Message from the host city of the next meeting (Tata, Hungary)
  • Message from current host city (Dongying, China)
18:00 – 20:00
Buffet supper
venue: Yellow River (Huanghe) Hall (2F of main building)

Day 3

17 October 2024, Thursday

Time Activity
9:00 – 12:00
Field visit
visit to the Yellow River Estuary Cultural Museum and city parks in Dongying City
12:00 – 14:00
Lunch break
14:00 – 18:00
Field visit
visit to Shandong Yellow River Delta Ramsar Site
18:00 – 20:00
Buffet supper
venue: Yellow River (Huanghe) Hall (2F of main building)

* free time for those who will not join the field visit

Exhibition

Outside of the Huaxia Hall, there will be exhibition banners set up for all Wetland Cities.
In addition, there will be a panel where all participants can take ceremonial photos.

For participants interested in bringing promotional materials, they can display them on the table in the middle.

Local information

Weather

Weather during the event period will show clear fall weather/ windy/ big temperature difference.

  • Season: Fall
  • Temperature: 10 to 20 degrees Celsius
  • Mostly sunny and windy

Time zone

Time zone in Dongying, Shandong, China (GMT+8)

Currency

The currency of China is Chinese Yuan (CNY).

Electricity

A type and I type are commonly used in China.

Local Transportation

During this meeting, Dongying City will provide pick-up service from selected stations within Shandong Province. For the specific stations, please refer to the attached map. Please share your travel details (arrival and departure locations, times, flight numbers or train numbers) to dyssdzx@dy.shandong.cn to avail of the pick-up service.

Accommodation

For the accommodation, participants have been booked at Dongying Hotel.

Upon arrival at the hotel, participants must register at the front desk where they will be informed of their room assignments.

Participants will need to settle the cost of any personal expense (i.e. telephone bills, mini-bar, additional meals, laundry, etc.) directly with the hotel. Should participants wish to extend their stay in the hotel, expenses will be at their own costs.

For arranging the accommodation in Dongying Hotel, please send copies or electronic photos of your passports to dyssdzx@dy.shandong.cn. Room rate is CNY 380 per night for a standard room and can be paid on site by card or cash.

Press release

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Press package

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