On October 26, 2024, the 8th International Disaster Prevention and Reduction Knowledge Service Seminar and the 2024 "Second International Symposium on Perception, Cognition and Prediction of Geological Disasters-International Cooperation and Best Practices Branch for Disaster Prevention and Reduction" was sponsored by the Disaster Prevention and Reduction Institute of the Ministry of Natural Sciences of UNESCO and the UNESCO International Engineering Science and Technology Knowledge Center (IKCEST), and organized by the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Resources of China Academy of Sciences and the IKCEST Disaster Prevention and Reduction Sub-platform Team was held in Changsha, Hunan. This conference attracted scientists, educators, entrepreneurs and representatives of international organizations from "Belt and Road" countries and relevant domestic universities, research institutions, science and technology organizations to participate in and exchange meetings.

Tian Qi, Director of the International Cooperation Bureau of China Academy of Engineering and Executive Director of IKCEST, and Faduma Hussein Ali, Project Officer of the Disaster Prevention and Reduction Department of the UNESCO Department of Natural Sciences, delivered opening speeches. Tian Qi reviewed IKCEST's annual work in the field of disaster prevention and reduction, affirmed the effectiveness of the disaster prevention and reduction sub-platform team in the UNESCO Open Science Initiative and the infrastructure construction of a global community with a shared future, and praised the platform for winning the 2024 Geoinformation Industry Association of China. Congratulations on the progress of science and technology. Faduma introduced how disaster prevention and reduction and technological innovation that UNESCO is concerned about can be applied in Africa and small island developing States, to deal with extreme temperatures, and the latest progress of AI technology in the field of disaster prevention and reduction. Liu Chang, Director of the First Division of the International Cooperation Bureau of China Academy of Engineering and Secretary-General of IKCEST, Wang Juanle, Executive Director of the IKCEST Disaster Prevention and Reduction Sub-Platform, and Faith Chan, Professor at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, presided over the meeting.

Liu Chang introduced the concept and practice of IKCEST; Khamarrul Azahari Bin Razak of Malaysia University of Technology gave a report entitled "Humanizing Disaster Intelligence and Risk Information to Develop Climate Resilience Strategies"; Meen Bahadur Poudyal Chhetri, Director of the Disaster Management Center of Nepal, gave a report on methods and best practices for international cooperation in disaster prevention and reduction; Faith Chan gave a report entitled "China's Sponge City Plan (SCP)-Challenges and Opportunities"; Wang Juanle, a researcher at the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Resources, China Academy of Sciences, gave a report focusing on the construction of the China-Pakistan digital corridor and its data sharing mechanism; Tian Bingwei, School of Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Management of Sichuan University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University, gave a report entitled "International Disaster Reduction Education Practice: From Innovative Classroom to Micro-Specialty"; Yang Fei and Li Congrong of the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Resources, China Academy of Sciences respectively reported on "Heat Wave Disaster Risk Assessment and Response Strategies" and "Disaster Emergency Service Models and International Cooperation Mechanisms."

The successful holding of the seminar will help strengthen cooperation between IKCEST and domestic and foreign institutions, thereby enhancing the service capabilities and influence of the disaster prevention and reduction knowledge service system.

After the seminar, Faduma Hussein Ali was invited to visit the IKCEST headquarters in Beijing to conduct in-depth exchanges with the IKCEST Secretariat and the disaster prevention and reduction knowledge service sub-platform team. The two sides highly recognized the friendly cooperative relations that IKCEST and UNESCO have established and maintained, and focused on discussing upcoming cooperation and exchanges, including assessments faced by IKCEST, cooperation in priority areas of open science and disaster prevention and reduction, and the preparation of "Engineering Report (3)", etc., and docking the upcoming exchange visit to UNESCO headquarters.