On May 29, the sixth multidiscipline forum on risk, disaster, and crisis was held in Chengdu, hosted by the Center for Social Risk and Public Crisis Management of Nanjing University and Southwest Jiaotong University, and organized by the School of Public Affairs and Law. To implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, the conference provided theoretical thinking on the coordination between development and security and on forestalling and defusing major risks. More than 100 experts and young scholars from domestic renowned universities and research institutions, including Fudan University, Tongji University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Renmin University of China, Nanjing University, Nankai University, Sun Yat-sen University, Sichuan University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Ocean University of China, attended the conference.

With the theme of “Multidiscipline Research on Risk, Disaster, and Crisis in the Context of Coordinating Security and Development”, the forum received more than 150 papers submitted by experts and scholars of relative fields, and selected more than 60 papers for the academic presentation. There were seven sub-forums: “government governance in response to major public emergencies”, “modernization of government emergency management capabilities”, “urban risk assessment and public risk perception”, “technology empowerment in risk, disaster and crisis management”, “management of public health emergencies”, “forestalling and defusing major risks”, and “future-oriented modernization of emergency management”.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Gao Fan, Secretary of the School of Public Affairs and Law of Southwest Jiaotong University, who welcomed all the experts and scholars from different regions of China. Zhang Xuelong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Southwest Jiaotong University, delivered a speech and expressed gratitude and welcome for the support of the experts and scholars. He said that the forum with the theme of “Multidiscipline Research on Risk, Disaster and Crisis in the Context of Coordinating Security and Development”, was designed to galvanize young scholars to focus on the risk, disaster, and crisis of current society. He expected all the experts and scholars to exchange their ideas and insights in the discussion, and sincerely hoped that all the participants would make friends with each other and become accompaniers on the academic path so as to go hand in hand in studying risk, disaster, and crisis.

As the representative of the conference host, Tong Xing, Professor of the School of Government of Nanjing University delivered a speech. He stated that the forum aimed at strengthening the academic communication among experts and scholars, broadening academic horizons, and keeping track of academic frontiers to establish an academic platform for national research on risk, disaster, and crisis and boost the multidiscipline and interdisciplinary development of research on risk, disaster, and crisis. He hoped that through the forum, academic spirits could be inherited and developed, innovation capacity could be cultivated and improved in the exchange and discussion, and friendship among universities could be consolidated and strengthened!

Professor Wang Yongjie, Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Law of Southwest Jiaotong University made a speech on behalf of the conference organizer. He introduced the basic information about school reform and pointed out that the School of Public Affairs and Law organized thesixth multidiscipline forum on risk, disaster, and crisis, and established a platform for academic discussion, information sharing, and cooperation. It will promote the dialogue and exchanges of young researchers and scholars on national risk, disaster, and crisis, and explore more paths with Chinese characteristics that are modern, innovative, and original for the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.

Next, the invited experts and scholars delivered the keynote speeches respectively around the forum theme. With regard to research on risk, crisis, and disaster theory, Professor Shan Chunchang, Former Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the National Commission for Disaster Reduction, Former Head of the State Council Expert Group on Emergency Management, Former Counsellor of the State Council, shared his deep and wise ideas on how to strengthen awareness of unexpected development, and how to forestall and defuse major risks. Gao Xiaoping, a Researcher of the Chinese Public Administration Society, illustrated his new thinking on social risk assessment. Li Qingjun, Professor of the School of Public Administration of Minzu University of China, summarized the characteristics and governance directions of risk, disaster, and crisis in border ethnic areas. Zhu Zhengwei, Professor of the School of Public Policy and Management of Xi’an Jiaotong University, proposed to use resilient governance to respond to complex disasters. Sha Zhongyong, Professor of the School of Public Administration of Lanzhou University, took the Lanzhou section of the Yellow River as an example to discuss flood disaster risk control under the background of urbanization. Tong Xing, Professor of the School of Government of Nanjing University, expounded on the grand theme of coordinating development and security.

In response to risk, disaster, and crisis, Hu Xiangming, Professor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, proposed to build a sharing-trust-cooperation model of social stability risk management; Li Ruichang, Professor of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, expounded on the path of urban comprehensive emergency management under technology empowerment; Fan Bo, Professor of the School of International and Public Affairs of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, put forward a new pattern of emergence resources under the Internet plus background; Lei Xiaokang, Professor of the School of Public Administration of Northwest University, gave a prospect to improve the comprehensive disaster defense capability; Liu Junqiang, Professor of the School of Government of Sun Yat-sen University, conducted a quantitative analysis on crisis event of the medical disturbance; Wu Xiaolin, Professor of Zhou Enlai School of Government of Naikai University, explored the security credibility issues caused by gated community with empirical analysis; Wang Hongwei, Associate Professor of the School of Public Administration and Policy of Renmin University of China, shared his new thinking on theory and practice of emergence management.

In the afternoon, many experts and scholars presented their academic opinions in the parallel forum and showed their wisdom and insight, which presented us a sound academic environment. In addition, a doctor forum was specially arranged in order to encourage young doctor students to actively conduct high-level academic research on risk, disaster, and crisis governance. The sub-forum provided a platform and opportunity for young scholars who study risk governance to express their academic views, expound on their insights, and show their academic capacity. The scholars carried out heated discussions from multiple dimensions and multiple levels including the idea, system, and capacity, and exchanged their ideas so as to embark on a new journey that theory will guide the practice of risk governance, and the practice of risk governance will boost theoretical innovation in turn. The hosts and commenters also shared their opinions and experience in the sub-forums. Finally, Professor Wang Yongjie, Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Law of Southwest Jiaotong University, presided over the closing ceremony of the forum, which indicated that the sixth multidiscipline forum on risk, disaster, and crisis came to a successful end.

Thanks for the numerous constructive suggestions for the improvement of research quality and the support from the Chengdu Urban Security and Management Research Institute. Since its inception in 2015, the multidiscipline forum on risk, disaster, and crisis has been held for six consecutive years, attracting several experts and scholars to participate in academic exchanges. The multidiscipline forum on risk, disaster, and crisis aims at promoting the multidiscipline and interdisciplinary development of research on risk, disaster, and crisis and stimulating young scholars to actively conduct China’s practice and high-level academic research on risk, disaster, and crisis governance, which has become an essential platform for experts and scholars of risk, disaster, and crisis field to show their talents, communicate with and learn from each other and strengthen their friendship.