IASP and ISTT organized the 35th World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation in Isfahan, Iran

International Association of Science Parks (IASP) in collaboration with the Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT) organized
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the “35 World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation”, which was hosted by ISTT at Isfahan Iran on September
2-5, 2018. The Conference was opened by Dr. Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) of
Iran and Dr. Sorena Sattari, the Vice President for S&T of Iran. The conference attracted a large number of Science, Technology
and Innovation (STI) experts and Science Parks Developers & Managers from over 50 nations and ambassadors of over 30
countries. The four-day conference aimed at paving the way for exchanging views among Science and Technology Parks around
the world. This mega event also provided a platform to hold bilateral (B2B) talks to promote cooperation between the managers
of domestic and foreign science parks.

It is pertinent to mention that ECOSF contributed to this event as a one of the collaborators and supporters. On behalf of ECO
Science Foundation (ECOSF), its President Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro participated in the conference as speaker in one of
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the sessions on 3 September. The IASP 2018 World Conference explored the role of Software Technology Parks and Area of
Innovations in the formation of the innovation ecosystem and the sustainable development of cities.

L-R: 'Dr. Sorena Sattari, the Vice President for S&T of Iran and Dr. Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology of Iran
addressing the participants of the Conference.

Dr. Mansour Gholami, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology of Iran highlighted the progress made by Iran in
developing the Science and Technology Parks in the Country. Science and technology parks have played a very important role in
the national development of S&T sector in Iran, he said.

Dr. Sorena Sattari, the Vice President for S&T of Iran in his remarks elucidated the strong commitments and strategies by the
Government of Iran to strengthen their STI sector, where STI parks can play critical role in achieving the desired goals.
Prof. Klaus R. Kunzmann from Gremany was the keynote speaker in the opening session of
the event, he is known for his extraordinary research work on innovative urban policy and
European spatial planning. Prof. Kunzmann in his keynote talk, underlined the role of
innovative urban policy, creativity, knowledge and the arts for spatial and endogenous
economic development of sustainable and smart cities for the future.

Mr. Joseph Miquel Pique, Secretary General IASP in his welcoming address highlighted
that IASP network is global platform that connects our members, and this World
Conference creates an unparalleled opportunity for making international connections,
exchanging knowledge about our local ecosystems, and learning from each other to
become truly global. He encouraged all science park managers and other innovation
professionals from around the world to increase their networking and make new
connections to strengthen Science Parks around the globe.

It is pertinent to mention here that ECOSF and Isfahan Regional Center for Technology Business Incubators & Science Parks
Development (IRIS) - under the auspices of UNESCO signed a MoU in April 2017 to strengthen the mutual collaboration in
development S&T Parks, Incubation Center and promotion of Innovative and Entrepreneurial Initiatives in ECO region.

During the conference, Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro President

ECOSF participated in the session on; “Global Alliance for Internationalization”,
which was moderated by Ms. Ebba Lund – the Chief Operating Officer of IASP.
Prof. Soomro delivered his talk entitled; “ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) – a
Platform for Promoting Science, Technology and Innovation through
Development of STI Parks in the ECO Region”. Prof. Soomro stressed over the
need for development of STI Parks in the ECO region, as they are crucial for
developing qualified manpower and STEM workforce to respond to global and
local challenges of water, climate change, energy and food security.

Read more: http://eco4science.org/IASP-2018

World Conference on Science Literacy held in Beijing China, Sept 17-19, 2018, President ECOSF among the Invited
Speakers
China Association for Science & Technology (CAST)- a partner organization of ECOSF, organized the World Conference on Science
Literacy 2018 in Beijing from September 17 to 19, 2018. The conference was themed "Science Literacy for a Shared and Better
Future”, which aimed to integrate resources, experiences, and strengths in promoting public science literacy across the globe.
The conference provided an opportunity to encourage the global science and technology community to respond to future
challenges and opportunities through advancing the public science literacy. More than 1,000 scientists and representatives from
38 countries and regions, as well as 23 international scientific organizations and 58 national scientific institutes, attended the
conference. The President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro participated in the conference as an invited speaker and
contributed in the session on Innovations in Science Education for the Future.

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A congratulatory message from Chinese President Xi Jinping was read
during the opening ceremony. In his message, President Xi Jinping stressed
that Science Literacy lays the ground for innovation. He recognized the
significance of the conference and highlighted the role of public science
literacy in building a community of a shared future for mankind.

Prof. Wan Gang, the President

of CAST in his opening remarks
urged all stakeholders to devote themselves to the promotion of science literacy with
greater commitment and take positive actions to develop closely coordinated social
networks. Prof. Gang stressed that increasing scientific literacy can refresh ideas of the
people, expand their potential, allow them to fulfill their value and contribute to
society. China makes a dedicated effort in improving science literacy, allocates
resources for popularization of science and has the key political support and
government programs to achieve that goal, he added. Prof. Gang opined that China
wishes to actively engage in international cooperation and working mechanisms, to help reduce the gap in scientific literacy
around the world and to inject positive energy for scientific development and a better world.

President ECOSF, Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro participated as an invited speaker by
CAST in the parallel session on Innovations in the Science Education for the Future. It is
important to mention here that this session was organized by the Children and Youth
Science Center of CAST (CYSC-CAST) & China Association of Children’s Science Instructors
(CACSI) who are the partners of ECOSF for promotion of Science Education along the Belt
and Road including the ECO region. The session was moderated by Prof. Ding Bangping of
Capital Normal University Beijing, China. Prof. Soomro delivered his presentation entitled;
“Innovation in Science Education Developing Competence in Emerging Technologies for
the Sustainable Future”. Prof. Soomro in his presentation
highlighted the scale of penetration and adoption of Digital
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Technologies around the 4 Industrial Revolution that is
rapidly changing entire sectors of the economy. He
advocated that there is an urgent need to develop digital
competencies and technological skills that will allow
everyone to fit in the world of tomorrow for sustainable
future. Other speakers of the session included Dato Lee Yee
Cheong the IAP SEP Chair, Prof. Mary Whitehouse from UK,
Prof. Ren Yougun from China and President NSTA- USA Ms.
Christine Anne Royce.

Read more: http://eco4science.org/World-Conference-on-Science-Literacy

IAP SEP Working Group on “Fusion of OBOR Civilizations Curriculum Design (FoCEd) meets during the World
Conference on Science Literacy 2018 in Beijing, China
The Inter-Academy Partnership Science Education Programme (IAP SEP) organized a meeting of its Working Group on Fusion of
One Belt One Road (OBOR) Civilizations Curriculum Design (FoCEd)as a side event of the World Conference on Science Literacy
2018 from 18-19 September, 2018 in Beijing, China. This Working Group Meeting was a follow-up of the meeting held in
Bangkok on 24th August 2018 and it was organized in collaboration with and hosted by the China Association of Science
Instructors for Youth and Children (CACSI) and the Children and Youth Science Center (CYSC) of China Association for Science
and Technology. The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of IAP SEP Academician Dato LEE, Yee Cheong and attended by the
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members of FoCEd from China, Kazakhstan,
Malaysia and Pakistan joined the meeting.
President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain
Soomro participated in the meeting as the
Member of Global Council of IAP SEP.

The idea of development of such a curriculum

for school kids is to inculcate peace and
harmony through evidence based science
education for children in the light of the
current conflict and increase in violence in
societies and terrorism.

The group meeting in Beijing deliberated on following points:

1. To finalise the resources and materials prepared

2. To identify strategies for piloting the materials
3. To prepare guidelines for the pilot
4. To merge different modules and prepare into one final document for submission and approval by IAP SEP secretariat.

Read more: http://eco4science.org/FoCEd

35th IASP Conference in Isfahan- Iran- B2B Meetings of President ECOSF with Leadership of Prominent S&T Parks
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During the 35 World Conference on Science Parks and Innovation by the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) held
in Isfahan, Iran on 3-5 Sept 2018, the B2B meetings were organized for the purpose of networking and developing cooperation
amongst the conference participants on September 4 and 5, 2018 in Isfahan, Iran. President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain
Soomro was especially invited to participate in the B2B meetings, where he interacted with leadership and managers of leading
Science & Technology Parks of Iran.

Prof. Soomro held B2B meetings with the leadership and teams
of the following S&T Parks during the conference:

 Ali Bisti, President Guilan Science & Technology Park

 Habib Rostami, President Persian Gulf Science &
Technology Park
 Mahmoud Saberi Motlagh, Executive Director of Inter
Islamic Network on Science & Technology,
 Mahmoud Reza Shakarami, President Lorestan Science
and Technology Park &
 Dr. Khaled Saeidi, President Science and Technology
Park of Kurdistan.

Read more: http://eco4science.org/B2B-Meetings

The 20th National Congress and the 8th International Congress of Biological Sciences held at the Maragheh
University of Iran
The 20th National Congress and the 8th International Congress of Biological Sciences were held at the Maragheh University, Iran
from August 31 to September 2, 2018. The events were organized by University of Maragheh, Iran and Biological Society of Iran
in collaboration with ECOSF and other national and international organizations. In three days congress, 88 oral presentations
were delivered and 750 were presented as posters. There were 17 elegant talks by keynote speakers, 6 workshops and 5

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specialized panels in various fields of Biological Sciences organized
in the mega conference. The scientists from six countries attended
the congress including delegates from Germany, Canada, Turkey,
Armenia, Italy and Iran. Along with the scientific lectures, panels
and specialized workshops, Maragheh tours including several visits
to historical and cultural places of the ancient city of Baghshahr in
Maragheh were also arranged for the participants. A cultural night
with the presentation of Azerbaijani folkloric music and other
cheerful programs was shown. In the closing ceremony, four of
the selected presentation were nominated in various fields and
were acknowledged by the organizers.

President ECOSF visits the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences at
Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
On the invitation of Prof. Peng CUI the head of the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE) of Chinese Academy
of Sciences, President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro visited the Institute at Chengdu. Purpose of the visit was to see
the facilities of IMHE and to meet Prof. Peng CUI and his team. The IMHE is engaged in establishment of a Joint Pak-China Centre
on Disasters Research and Risk assessment as well as reduction in Pakistan. Prof. CUI and his team welcomed Prof. Soomro and
briefed him about the activities of the institution and showed him around the Disaster Simulation Laboratories of the institute.

The following issues were discussed and agreed to further collaborate on them.

 Conference on DRR in Beijing in May 2019

 A conference on DRR with special reference to Pakistan to be organized in Islamabad
 Establishment of Joint Pak-China Centre on Disaster Risk Research in Pakistan
 CPEC-DRR and preparation of an Atlas of Disaster Risks of OBOR countries

Prof. Peng CUI sought cooperation of ECOSF for the preparation of atlas and cooperation especially of and in the ECO member
countries; which was agreed and assured by Dr. Soomro.

IRDR Executive Director meets the President ECOSF and President AETDEW in Beijing
Prof. Dr. Qunli HAN, Executive Director of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) a program of International Science Council
(ISC) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) met the President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain
Soomro and President of the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) on September 19,
2018 in Beijing on the side-lines of the World Conference on Science Literacy 2018.

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Prof. Soomro who is also the founding fellow of AETDEW and Dato Lee
were accompanied by another Chinese fellow of AETDEW Prof. Zhong
Yixin from Xinhua University, Beijing. The purpose of the meeting was to
discuss collaboration between IRDR, ECOSF and AETDEW on Disaster
Risk Research, Reduction, Mitigation and Preparedness along with the
Belt and Road Program of China, especially in the ECO member
countries.

All three organizations agreed in principle to participate and

collaborate. Dr. Soomro was also invited by Dr. HAN to share the
Disaster Risk issues of ECO member countries in a forthcoming meeting
of IRDR/UNISDR/ISC under the aegis of Chinese Academy of Sciences
scheduled in November 2018.

Distinguished Visitors to ECOSF

10 September 2018: Former Executive Director COMSATS Dr. Imtinan

Elahi Qureshi called upon President ECOSF to learn about the on-going
programs of ECO Science Foundation. Dr. Qureshi offered to volunteer
his services in ECOSF Programs wherever required.

25 September 2018: CEO Pak Alliance for Maths and Science (PAMS) Mr.
Salman Naveed called upon the President ECOSF to discuss various
programmes of PAMS and to seek guidance and cooperation of ECOSF
for joint promotion of Science culture in Pakistan. It is pertinent to
mention that President ECOSF Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro has been
nurturing and guiding PAMS and its facilitator education campaign Alif
Ailan ever since their conception.

Upcoming Events posted on ECOSF website and Facebook page

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2 Belt and Road Teenager Maker Camp & Teacher Workshop, 15-21 November 2018
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The “2 Belt and Road Teenager Maker Camp & Teacher Workshop” will be held from 15-21 November 2018 at Beijing, China.
The Camp is being hosted by China Association for Science & Technology (CAST) and the Ministry of Science and Technology,
People’s Republic of China and organized by Children & Youth Science Center (CYSC) of CAST, while supported by InterAcademy
Partnership Science Education Program (IAP SEP), ECOSF, Networking of African Science Academies (NASAC) and Beijing
Youth Science and Technology Centre (BYSTC).

To support the Belt and Road Initiative -China’s proposal to build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk
Road in cooperation with related countries -unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping, China Association for Science and
Technology and Ministry of Science and Technology of China have jointly launched the Belt and Road Teenager Science Camps
annually including Belt and Road Teenager Science Summer Camp and Belt and Road Teenager Maker Camp & Teacher

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Workshop since 2017. Those events aim to strengthen cross-cultural exchange, promote international understanding and inspire
innovation in young generation.
The camps give students the opportunity to cooperate with the best of their age at international level, to share ideas and study
cutting-edge knowledge in science labs of top schools in China through hands-on experience and teamwork under guidance of
experienced teachers. ECOSF plays the role of a Coordinator and Facilitator of the initiative in 10 countries of ECO.
Read More: http://eco4science.org/2nd-Belt-and-Road

Training Workshop on Developing Thinking Skills through Inquiry-Based Science Education, 22 - 26 October 2018, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia

The ISTIC, a close collaborator of ECOSF will be organizing the Training Workshop on Developing Thinking Skills Through Inquiry-
Based Science Education from 22 - 26 October 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Participants will comprise between 35 - 40
science educators from developing countries who need to upgrade their skills in IBSE or who have not yet attended workshops
on IBSE. Objectives of the training workshop are:

1. To re emphasise the basic principles of inquiry-based science education

2. To provide opportunities for science teachers to try out IBSE in the teaching of science in their classes;
3. To experience the process of inquiry-based science teaching and learning; and
4. To provide strategies on developing thinking skills.

Applications should be submitted as soon as possible or by 2nd October 2018.

Read More: http://eco4science.org/Developing-Thinking-Skills-through-IBSE

International Conference on Silk-roads Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China Association for Science and Technology, Ministry of Emergency Management of
the People’s Republic of China, and associated faculties of United Nations will jointly host the *International Conference on Silk-
roads Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development* in Beijing, on May 11-12, 2019.
Conference Theme: Towards Safe, Green, and Resilient Silk Roads
Important Dates
On-line registration starts on October 20, 2018
Deadline for extended abstract submission: December 20, 2018 Deadline for early bird registration: April 20, 2019
International Conference May 11-12, 2019
For more details, visit conference website at http://www.sidrr.com

Invitation to seventh session of IPBES Plenary

Invitation to participate in the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES) Plenary is opened that will take place from 29 April to 4 May 2019, in Paris, France.
On Sunday, 28 April 2019, regional consultations and the IPBES Stakeholder Day will be held. The seventh session of the Plenary
will be opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, 29 April 2019. An opening ceremony will take place on Monday evening. The session is
scheduled to close on Saturday, 4 May 2019. An invitation has also been sent to all Ministers for Environment of all States
Members of the United Nations or Members of specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to
all Permanent Representatives to UN Environment, as well as to the Permanent missions to the United Nations.
For the purpose of making preparatory arrangements for the session, interested participants or candidates are
requested complete the online registration form (https://www.ipbes.net/registration/ipbes-7) as soon as possible, and no later
than 11 January 2019.
Read more: http://eco4science.org/7th-session-of-IPBES

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