On December 10, 2024, the International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology under the auspices of UNESCO (IKCEST) held the inaugural meetings of its fourth Governing Board and fourth Advisory Committee in a hybrid format. Wang Chen, Director of IKCEST and Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Chen Jianfeng, Secretary-General of the CAE, were in attendance.

During the meetings, participants acknowledged IKCEST’s accomplishments over the past year and provided suggestions for its future development. These included supporting the implementation of the United Nations resolution on the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033), collaborating with UNESCO’s evaluation processes, and leveraging the evaluation results to strengthen the Centre’s capacity-building efforts.

More than 80 representatives attended the event, including Lidia Brito, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, Qin Changwei, Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, and members of the IKCEST Governing Board and Advisory Committee. Participants also included those from the Division of Science Policy and Capacity Building in the UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector, the IKCEST general platform and its sub-platforms, and the IKCEST Secretariat.