30.05.2023 / APACCCEEC`s Director participated in Sino-Bulgaria Climate Change and Rural Revitalization Symposium, held in Sofia on May 30th
APACCCEEC`s Director participated in Sino-Bulgaria Climate Change and Rural Revitalization Symposium, held in Sofia on May 30th
Participants in the Symposium were: Dr. Bozhidar Ivanov, Director IAE, Dr. Momchil Stanishev, Director of APACCCEEC, Prof. Martin Banov, President of Agricultural Academy, Mr. Guo Dacheng, Second Secretary in Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Bulgaria-Chinese Science and Technology attache, Mr. He Jie, First Secretary in Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Bulgaria, Prof. Shengquan Che, Director of Joint Lab, Prof. Hrabrin Bachev, Prof Svetla Yancheva, Vice Rector of Agricultural University-Plovdiv, Associate Prof. Paskal Zhelev, Associate Prof. Yanka Kazakova-Mateva and others.
The program of the Symposium included thematic panels as follows: opening ceremony and speeches; certificate awarding ceremony; presentation of projects of the winners in the Joint Laboratory and an academic seminar.
In the first part of the program, a welcome speech was given by Dr. Momchil Stanishev, Director of APACCCEEC. He presented the challenges caused by climate change, emphasising that joint approaches should also be means in international cooperation in order to solve these issues. The Director pointed out that there are many rural areas that have suffered from climate change, but constant work is being done to find solutions and improve the conditions in these zones.
In addition, he emphasized that the APACCCEEC is an administration that works in support of the business sector, with the target of achieving gathering between the private sector, academia and the state administration, which aims to improve the cooperation between the parties, as well as to achieve implementation of initiatives that would have a positive effect on society. In the activities of APACCCEEC, there are also projects, which reflect and implement part of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
In that aspect, Dr. Stanishev mentioned to the guests of the Symposium about the pilot project “Accelerator program for startups in agriculture between CEE and China”, pointing out that among the finalists there were startup companies with ideas, products and solutions in the field of ecology and sustainable agricultural management. Another example of successful cooperation and scientific exchange with China, which was presented to the audience by the Director of APACCCEEC, is the International Conference “10 years of Cooperation and Exchange between China and the CEE countries”, which was held in November 2022 at Sofia Unviersity and brought together scientists and researchers who presented their papers and solutions for modernizing agriculture and drawing a path to sustainable agriculture.
In the second panel of the Symposium, certificates for cooperation, bilateral work, and strengthening of relations between institutions were awarded to: Prof. Martin Banov, Prof. Svetla Yancheva, Prof. Maria Stoycheva and Associate Prof. Paskal Zhelev.
The Symposium provided an opportunity for bilateral cooperation between the academic and scientific sectors from Bulgaria and China, as well as an exchange of good practices and deployment of the potential for work in rural areas.
