An Ecosystem Assessment Management (EAM) delegation, including professors and researchers from the University of Ottawa, visited Lanzhou, China, in December 2006. The Canadian delegation also included representatives from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment Canada, Université de Montréal and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
In addition to meeting with central and local government agencies, universities, institutions and local farmers, the delegation attended the first EAM International Symposium.
Through the strengthening of educational and research facilities, the EAM project aims to create social cohesion in the rural development of the northwest minority regions of China. It also aims to increase the capacity of Lanzhou University, Northwest University for Nationalities and Gansu Agricultural University to encourage sustainable agricultural practices and promote environmental restoration and poverty alleviation.
During the visit, Daniel Lagarec and Huhua Cao, professors from the Department of Geography, and Professor Illimar Altosaar from the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, were nominated as adjunct professors of Lanzhou University for 2007-2009.
