Evénements

Pavilion Prize Jury Completes First Session

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 Scene of the press conference with the jury members of the Official Participants Awards ("Pavilion Prizes")

(from second from left: Joan Busquets, Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Wu Jianmin, Jean-Pierre Lafon, Hong Bin Kang, and Qingyun Ma)

09/07/10 - The first session of the jury meeting for the Official Participants Awards, or the "Pavilion Prizes," at EXPO 2010 was completed today, after 83 pavilions were visited over the course of 5 days this week between July 5th and 9th by a jury that included world-renowned architects, urbanist, BIE officials, and other international personalities.

A long-standing tradition at Expos that was interrupted for a time and reintroduced at EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan, the Pavilion Prizes are given to official participants at the Expo to honor their contributions to the development of each Expo theme and to the education of the public on the messages of the Expo. 

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During the press conference held at the Media Center of the Expo, Ambassador Wu Jianmin, former and honorary President of the BIE who acted as spokesperson on behalf of the rest of the jury, explained that the  Pavilion Prizes consist of 33 awards (statues) given to official participants at the Expo who excel in any of the following three criteria: external design (innovation and appeal of design and of exhibit displays), internal exhibition arrangement (visitor experience and comfort), and theme development (interpretation and expression of the Expo theme as displayed in the pavilions).

Furthermore, the evaluation divides pavilions into four categories: type A (self-built pavilions with surface area equal to or greater than 4000 m2 - 19 pavilions in this category), type B (self-built pavilions with surface area between 2000 m2 amd 3999 m2 - 22 pavilions in this category), type C (self-built and rented pavilions with surface area of 1999 m2 or less - 42 pavilions in this category), and type D (joint pavilions - 114 pavilions in this category).

A gold, silver, and bronze statues are awarded for each criteria in each type.

This time, types A, B, and C pavilions were covered, while the second session of the jury (October 11th to 15th) will cover the remaining type D pavilions.  The results will be announced after the second jury session, and the award ceremony will take place on the BIE Day (October 30th), the day before the closing of the Expo.

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The press conference was attended by 6 of the 9 jury members: BIE President Jean-Pierre Lafon, BIE Secretary-General Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, BIE former and honorary President Wu Jianmin, leading international architects Joan Busquets and Qingyun Ma, and prominent urbanist Hong Bin Kang.

BIE Secretary-General Loscertales said that the excellent quality of the pavilions at the Expo, which in general have been able to withstand the challenges and pressures imposed by the unprecedencted scale of the operation, has contributed to the success of the Expo.

   

4th Expo Theme Forum Closes

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Shanghai Excecutive Vice Mayor Yang Xion
04/07/10 - The second day of the Expo theme forum on low-carbon city highlighted the important role that cities have, individually and collectively, in addressing urban environmental challenges.

"Cities are both the source of environmental problems and vulnerable victims of environmental risks" said Shanghai's Executive Vice Mayor Yang Xion. As he called for a common ground where cities can contribute to solve their problems with a collaborative understanding, Mr. Yang Xion stressed the need to pay careful attention to pursuing a path of sustainable development that is in line with each city's own characteristics.

If by 2050 there will be 9 billion people on the planet, at the core of sustainable work there are people and citizens according to Klaus Toepfer, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). He urged cities to start acting without waiting for the success of global negotiations because those that "start early will be the winners," adding that Expo 2010 is a strong signal that the world must take action to cope with global environmental challenges.
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Klaus Toepfer, former Executive Director of UNEP

Participants and speakers shared a general understanding that the low-carbon city is a precondition for stable development, which must integrate economic and environmental considerations fueled by technology innovation on the one hand and a strong educational and communication program on the other. The engagement of citizens is vital to the ability to carry out and implement sustainable practices and the role of women should not be neglected in the process.

In the morning parallel sessions participants discussed clean energy, green building, sustainable production methods and living.

More than 700 Chinese and foreign guests attended the forum and later transferred to Shanghai to visit the Expo 2010 site.

Theme forums are an important and integral part of Expo 2010 along with exhibitions, events and cultural performances. Two more forums will be convened in Shaoxing in September and in Hangzhou in October.
(Photos courtesy of EXPO Shanghai 2010 official website -  www.expo2010.cn)
   

The City of Nanjing Hosts the Fourth Expo Theme Forum: Towards a Low-Carbon City

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Zhou Shengxian, Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection, at the 4th Expo Theme Forum in Nanjing
03/07/10 - The city of Nanjing today opened the fourth Expo Theme Forum, "Towards a Low-Carbon City: Environmental Protection and Urban Responsibilities."

Nanjing, the ancient capital of China and today the capital of Jiangtsu Province, is home to 8 million people and has undergone in recent years double digit economic growth. It is also one the 11 cities recognized as examples of good environmental management in China, 5 of which are in the Jiangtsu Province. In light of the continuous urbanization process of the province and its cities, this forum is a timely event for the Nanjing.
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Scene of the forum
The declaration by the Minister of Environmental Protection of China, Mr. Zhou Shengxian, that economic development must go hand in hand with environmental development was echoed by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP and by Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). While industrialized countries have followed a development path that gave priority to economic development with environmental concerns to be addressed at a later stage, developing countries cannot afford to undertake this path. Economic and environmental policies should go hand in hand. "The best environmental policy is also the best economic policy" according to Mr. Tang Dingding, Director of the Environmental Development Center of China.
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Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner

Cities are key solution providers to environmental management as they are the frontiers of innovation and the places where sustainable issues are addressed. Promoting low carbon-cities involves different areas where cooperation is central as climate effects do not distinguish between cities. Alongside inter-governmental activities, the cooperation between cities can be a highly effective way to address environmental problems concretely.

Tomorrow, the forum will continue for a second day of work.
(Photos courtesy of EXPO Shanghai 2010 official website - www.expo2010.cn)
   

Wuxi Theme Forum Explores Science & Technology Innovation for Our Urban Future

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UNCTAD Secretary-General, Supachai Panitchpakdi delivers a keynote speech

20/06/10 – Wuxi, in the southeastern part of Jiangsu Province, China, welcomed today the first day of the "Science & Technology Innovation and Urban Future" Forum, the third of the Expo Shanghai Theme Forum series.

The forum opened with a high-tech presentation skillfully combining two of the underlying messages of the forum: science & technology as drivers of development, and then, that Wuxi is a prime example of a city leveraging them for a sustainable urban development (the last phrase of the presentation reading, "Wuxi, at the forefront of a new era").

How to use scientific and technological innovation in order to enhance a city's competitiveness, ensure urban security, and improve quality of life – these are the key issues around which the two-day forum is organized.

As Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, said in his keynote speech today, whether we can "capture and harness" scientific innovation will determine our ability to face the major urban challenges of our time, such as climate change, water shortages, or the need for cleaner and renewable energy sources.  As such, scientific innovation is the "key to the survival and prosperity of cities."  The choice of Wuxi to host this forum, he added, was "eminently appropriate," with Wuxi being home to one of the world's largest solar energy companies, Suntech.

Meanwhile, Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee, CPPCC, and Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, further emphasized that science and technology are leading drivers of socio-economic growth in cities, and that cities, in turn, represent the progress of human civilization. But city development is in a period of transformation, he said, and Expo Shanghai will play an important role in pointing to future urban trends.

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Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee, CPPCC, and Chinese Minister of Science and Technology

The forum also enjoyed endorsements by two Nobel Laureates—Lee Tsung-Dao (1957 Nobel Laureate in Physics and currently Professor at Columbia University) and Barry Marshall (2005 Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine and currently Clinical Professor at the University of Western Australia).

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 Lee Tsung-Dao, 1957 Nobel Laureate in Physics and Professor at Columbia University

Lee said that World Expos today reflect the progress of mankind in better understanding nature's challenges and that they showcase man's success in advancing science to create modern, technologically adapted cities. Marshall, for his part, discussed the power of knowledge –specifically scientific knowledge in this case—in protecting ourselves from things such as infectious diseases and therefore contributing to a better life.

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Barry Marshall, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine

A range of other speakers offered their insights on how science and technology innovation promote sustainable urban development. Among them was Yuan Longping, Director of the National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Center in China and Academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who took the case of the better-yielding hybrid rice – a work of scientific and technological innovation par excellence and of which he has been credited as pioneering – as playing a key role in ensuring global food security in the new century.

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Yuan Longping, Director of the National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Center in China and Academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Another speaker, Gordon Mackerron, Director of the Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, UK, discussed the role of governance issues in achieving urban sustainable development, offering a perspective that complemented some of the other presentations that largely focused on the importance of technology for development. Building on the notion that technological innovation is critical for urban sustainable development, he called for policies that are complementary and well-articulated so as to support the proper implementation of these technologies.

 

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Scene of the Wuxi Expo Theme Forum

Held a week after the Suzhou Theme Forum, the Wuxi Theme Forum is welcoming approximately 500 participants and will continue through tomorrow.

(Photos courtesy of Expo Shanghai 2010 official website – www.expo2010.cn)

   

Shanghai 2010

Yeosu 2012

Milano 2015

Venlo 2012