On September 26, during the 3rd Asia International Water Week, the International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES) and UNESCO's International Center for the Integrated Management of Watershed & Bio-Resource in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions (ICIMWB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Cooperation.

Attending the signing ceremony were Ms. PENG Jing, Director-General of IRTCES and President of the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR); Mr. Hamid Nouri, Director of the ICIMWB; Mr. Seyed Hamidreza Sadeghi, Member of the ICIMWB Council, Vice President of the World Association of Sedimentation and Erosion Research (WASER), Professor of the Tarbiat University of Iran; Mr. PAN Qingbin, Deputy Director-General of the IRTCES; Mr. Zhang Jianli, Deputy Director-General of the IRTCES;  as well as representatives from IRTCES and the Division of International Cooperation of the IWHR.

In their remarks, Ms. PENG Jing and Mr. Hamid Nouri noted that both IRTCES and ICIMWB are among the 29 Category 2 Centers under UNESCO's water family, sharing a common platform for cooperation and exchanges with a solid foundation. Focusing on their respective priority research areas, the two institutions will carry out pragmatic cooperation in addressing global water challenges, particularly in fields such as sediment management, soil and water conservation, and ecological environmental protection. Specific areas of collaboration will include academic exchanges, technical training, joint research initiatives, talent development, and expert visits. They also emphasized that China and Iran, with their profound historical traditions and cultural heritage, will leverage this cooperation to foster closer cultural exchanges. This partnership aims to contribute to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the implementation of water-related targets under the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the strategic goals of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) Phase IX (2022-2029).

Prior to the ceremony, representatives from the ICIMWB visited IRTCES for in-depth discussions on specific areas of future cooperation.

Established in 2020, ICIMWB is a Category 2 Center dedicated to advancing basic research on management of watershed and bio-resource, developing knowledge systems and strategies for the coordinated management of water and soil resources in watersheds and addressing conflicts arising from human development and natural resource conservation by providing ecohydrological knowledge, conducting training programs, and collecting and analyzing data.