The TWAS-SAPREP (TWAS East and South-East Asia and the Pacific Regional Partner) regional workshop on ‘Science and Technology for Sustainable Development’ took place in Beijing on 28–29 May 2026.
Bringing together more than 100 participants from 18 countries, the event convened TWAS Fellows, TWAS Young Affiliates, and researchers for academic exchanges and discussions on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through science, technology, and innovation (STI).
It was jointly hosted by TWAS-SAPREP and the TWAS Young Affiliates Network (TYAN), and co-organized by six CAS-TWAS Centres of Excellence and the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The workshop kicked off with an official opening ceremony. Distinguished guests who delivered opening remarks both via video and in person included TWAS Vice President and CAS President Jianguo Hou; TWAS Executive Director Marcelo Knobel; TYAN Co-Chair Roula Abdel-Massih; and AIR Deputy Director Bing Zhang.
They explained that STI serves as a core pillar for global sustainable development. They also said advancing regional sci-tech cooperation and supporting young researchers in the global South are important to addressing relevant development challenges. The ceremony was moderated by Weidong Liu, coordinator of TWAS-SAPREP and director-general of the CAS Bureau of International Cooperation.
Distinguished TWAS Fellows among the keynote speakers included Huadong Guo, Bounthong Bouahom, Xiyun Yan, Ramesh T. Subramaniam, Xiaomin Fang, Keng-Boon Ooi, Lifeng Chi, and Rahinah Ibrahim.
They delivered in-depth research presentations covering sustainable development fields that included digital technology-enabled SDG governance, agricultural development and food security, green energy storage and smart city development, as well as community resilience and sanitation management practices, among others.
TWAS Young Affiliates presented application-oriented scientific research achievements, and the six CAS-TWAS Centres of Excellence shared their latest research progress and practical outcomes in sustainable development-related domains. The sessions were co-moderated by Lai Khin Wee, Executive Committee member of TYAN, and Fang Chen, Co-Chair of TYAN.
A roundtable discussion explored ways to strengthen collaboration among research institutions, TWAS Fellows, and Young Affiliates to address shared regional challenges.
On the second day, TWAS Fellows and TYAN members conducted field visits to the Earth System Numerical Simulation Facility (EarthLab) and the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS).