The XIX International Botanical Congress, the Shenzhen Declaration on Plant Sciences, and the Resolutions of IBC 2017
2017; Wiley; Volume: 55; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/jse.12284
ISSN1674-4918
Autores Tópico(s)Bryophyte Studies and Records
ResumoThe International Botanical Congress (IBC), authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS), is the largest and the most highly attended conference on plant sciences in the world. The IBC boasts a long history of bringing together scientists from many countries and regions working on diverse disciplines within the plant sciences. The IBC also represents the authoritative forum for modification of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN). The ICN is amended via proposals that are introduced and discussed during the Nomenclature Section, which is held prior to the main Congress. While several attempts to consolidate botanical nomenclature were made in the 19th century, the first largely successful consensus was accomplished at an international meeting of botanists in Paris, France in 1900, and this is regarded as the first IBC (Nicolson, 1991). Following the first IBC, subsequent meetings were held every five years until they were interrupted by the World Wars I and II (Stafleu, 1970). Starting in 1969 with IBC XI in Seattle, USA, the congress has occurred regularly in every six years. The first IBC meetings were held in Europe. The IBC was hosted in the United States for the first time in 1926 in Ithaca, New York. Following the Ithaca congress, IBC was rotated among Europe, North America and Australia until 1993, when the XV IBC was first held in Asia, i.e., in Yokohama, Japan. Photo 1. The XIX IBC Opening Ceremony. IABMS had received two application packages from China in 2008 to host the XIX IBC: one from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and the other from the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in Shenzhen. In 2010, the IBC ad hoc selection committee approved that the XIX IBC be held in Shenzhen, China under the auspices of the Botanical Society of China. Within Shenzhen, the XIX IBC was held in the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center and the adjacent Sheraton Hotel on July 23–29, 2017, and the Nomenclature Section meeting convened on July 17–21, 2017 at the campus of the Peking University HSBC Business School in Shenzhen. China is the first developing country and the second nation in Asia to host an IBC meeting. IBC 2017 was an extremely successful Congress with a record number of participants: 6850 scholars and students and 117 exhibitors. The Congress brought together colleagues from many disciplines within plant sciences, especially from systematics, ecology, conservation, mycology, agriculture, horticulture, physiology, paleobotany, molecular biology, genomics, and plant/animal interactions. The Congress had five public lectures by leading plant biologists, 12 plenary lectures, 34 keynote lectures, and 212 general symposia organized within six major themes: (1) Biodiversity, resources & conservation (38 symposia); (2) Taxonomy, phylogenetics & evolution (61 symposia); (3) Ecology, environment & global change (26 symposia); (4) Development & physiology (39 symposia); (5) Genetics, genomics & bioinformatics (33 symposia); and (6) Plants & society (15 symposia). In addition, IBC attracted 49 satellite meetings/workshops, which were held in parallel to the IBC event and included council meetings and special meetings of many botanical associations. The IBC 2017 Organizing Committee established a very strong awards program to help excellent scholars and outstanding students/postdoctors to attend the Congress. A total of 526 travel awards were made and the awardees comprised 284 scholars and 208 graduate students and postdocs from 64 countries and regions. Among awardees, 52 percent were from developing countries, and the support for all awardees totaled 2.3 million yuan. At the Plenary Closing Ceremony of IBC 2017, Dr. Peter H. Raven, an esteemed botanist and the President Emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri in USA, was awarded with the first Shenzhen International Award in Plant Sciences (Photo 2). The Shenzhen International Award in Plant Sciences was newly established by the Botanical Society of China, the Botanical Society of Shenzhen, and Shenzhen Tech and Ecology and Environment Co., Ltd. to commemorate the IBC 2017 event in Shenzhen. The Tech and Ecology Foundation (funded by Shenzhen Tech and Ecology and Environment Co. Ltd.) provides financial support for the award. The Award is to recognize scientists who have conducted breakthrough research in both basic and applied plant sciences and whose outstanding contributions have impacted our understanding of the plant kingdom. The Shenzhen International Award in Plant Sciences consisted of a trophy, a certificate and the monetary prize of 700 000 yuan (approximately US $103 880). Photo 2. Dr. Peter Raven (Center) received the first Shenzhen International Award in Plant Sciences. The award was presented by Wei-Hua Wu (President of the XIX IBC; left) and Qing-Sheng Liu (Member of the Standing Committee of Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China & Vice President of the XIX IBC; right). Photo 3. Professor De-Yuan Hong (second from right) received the Engler Medal in Gold from IAPT. The award was presented by IAPT President Patrick Herendeen (3rd from left). Also present were Vicki Funk (IAPT Past President, 1st from left), Karol Marhold (IAPT Secretary General, 2nd from left), and Jun Wen (Vice President of XIX IBC, 1st from right). A memorial park for the XIX International Botanical Congress had the launching ceremony during the Congress at the Futian Mangrove Ecological Park. Local officials from the Shenzhen Municipal Government, 20 well-known botanists and local botanical colleagues participated in the ceremony for constructing the IBC Memorial Park in Shenzhen. The online open publication of the Shenzhen Declaration by JSE and Phytokeys promotes the broad dissemination of the Declaration to colleagues in plant sciences, the general public, as well as the governments. We strongly encourage discussions of the Declaration among plant scientists and urgently call on plant scientists to engage with the public and governments on the Declaration as steps towards promoting its goals. The XIX IBC in Shenzhen, China adopted five resolutions at the Plenary Closing Ceremony on July 29, 2017. The resolutions especially emphasized developing plant sciences with gender equity, promoting the seven priorities in plant sciences identified in the Shenzhen Declaration, and promoting international collaboration as well as collaboration across disciplines and with societies and the public (e.g., resolutions on Shenzhen Declaration and IAPT-China Office). Resolution 1 (Nomenclature): The XIX International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China resolves that the decisions of its Nomenclature Section with respect to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, as well as the appointment of the Rapporteur-général, Secretary of the Fungal Nomenclature Bureau, and officers and members of the Permanent Nomenclature Committees, made by that Section during its meetings from 17th to 21st of July, 2017, be accepted; noting with interest the mechanism for creating a framework for future registration of algal and plant names, provisions for improved clarity in the governance of the Code and the working of future Nomenclature Sections, and the sharing of governance of nomenclature by referring decisions on rules solely relating to fungi to International Mycological Congresses. Resolution 2 (Gender equity): The XIX International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China resolves to work actively for gender equity in the plant sciences: to facilitate equal opportunities for entry, participation and advancement in the field; to create environments where men and women work together with equal recognition; and where each person, regardless of gender, strives to create opportunities in an equitable way, avoiding both conscious and unconscious bias in decision-making processes. Resolution 3 (IAPT-China Office): The XIX International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China resolves to foster international cooperation between the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) and the Chinese botanical community through the establishment of an IAPT-China office. Resolution 4 (Shenzhen Declaration): The XIX International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China resolves to adopt the Shenzhen Declaration and its seven priorities for action as a framework for safeguarding plant diversity, enabling innovative international science, and creating new paths to a green, sustainable future for Earth, with plants and people in harmony. Resolution 5 (IBC 2023): The XIX International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, China resolves that the XX International Botanical Congress be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2023, under the auspices of Botanical Society of Brazil, which has provided to the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) selection committee all the necessary evidence of its ability to hold the congress there. Song Ge, gesong@ibcas.ac.cn Jun Wen, wenj@si.edu Editors-in-Chief
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