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Energy China Forum (ECF) 2017: 7^th Asia-Pacific Shale Gas Summit was held 11-13 October 2017, at Jianguo Hotel, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. ECF is the largest leading forum for public-private dialogue on energy development, serving leaders and professionals especially for shale gas industries. Seven ECF summits had been successfully held since 2011. The aim of the 7^th ECF Summit was to gather professionals and experts from all around the world to explore policy trends, discuss latest shale development, classify and study industry chain, access to business partnering and project matchmaking, to learn both market 101 and advanced business strategy in China Oil & Gas industries and having a face to face communication with Chinese partners as well as global investors. ECF 2017 was organized by the Shanghai United Institute for Unconventional Resources (SUI) and the Shanghai Energy Economy Committee of Shanghai Economist Association, with support from the China Petroleum Enterprises Association (CPEA) and the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP).

The training course on “Carbon Resource Recycling Appropriate Technology” forms one of the regular training courses of KIGAM International School for Geoscience Resources (IS-Geo), in collaboration with CCOP. It was conducted at IS-Geo KIGAM, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, from 8-15 September 2017, with 10 trainees participation; 8 trainees from CCOP Member Countries, 1 from CCOPTS and 1 from Ethiopia.

The training course aims to foster professionals from all over the world in the fields of climate change, carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS) as well as to enhance the capabilities of the cooperating countries/organizations with Korea/ KIGAM. The course provides an introduction to the carbon resource recycling appropriate technology, and related technological innovations for CO2 utilization and sequestration. More practically, utilization of carbonated minerals for mine backfill, assessment of mine hazards and mineral extraction process from mine tailings are also covered.

The ‘2^nd BGR-CCOP International Training Course on Risk-Sensitive Spatial Planning for CCOP Member Countries’ was held from 18 to 28 September 2017 in Quezon City/Philippines and was organized by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR, Germany)in cooperation with CCOP Technical Secretariat (CCOPTS), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB, Philippines), and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).

The BGR-CCOP Training Course is funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)and implemented into three training activities conducted by two BGR experts Dr Dirk Balzer and Dr Dirk Kuhn. The training courses represent a capacity building measure for professionals of mandated authorities in the fields of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Spatial Planning. It aims to support the requirements and future challenges of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), to strengthen disaster risk governance to manage Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and to promote the dialogue and cooperation among the relevant authorities. During the course, the participants are familiarized with the concepts and dimensions of disaster risk and the crucial role of risk-sensitive spatial planning as a non-structural measure to mitigate risks. Considerable effort is made to intensively train the participants in the practical sessions of pre-disaster risk assessments particularly with regard to the practical benefits to their daily work.

The 5th Asia-Pacific Geoparks Network Symposium was held in Zhijin International Conference Centre, Zhijin, China, September 19-22, 2017. The Symposium was organised by Zhijindong Cave UNESCO Global Geopark and supported by Global Geoparks Network (GGN), Asia Pacific Geoparks Network (APGN), Chinese Geoparks Network (CGN), Bijie Municipal Government, Provincial Department of Land and Resources of Guizhou, and the Zhijin Government. A total of about 800 participants from many countries attended the meet. CCOPTS had attended the meeting with the aim to expose, advertise and invite GGN/APGN as partner for geopark capacity building programmes.

The symposium opening ceremony and keynote speeches were mainly held on the morning of the first day, 19th September. Many oral presentations and some keynotes followed suit throughout the event duration. Many geoparks booths were opened and had attracted large crowd of interested participants.

The Technical Seminar on Jurassic – Cretaceous Boundary of Southeast Asia jointly organized by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) Thailand and the CCOP Technical Secretariat, was successfully carried out on 1 September at the Sukosol Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand with  98 participants from various agencies in Thailand.  The Seminar started with welcoming remarks by Dr Adichat Surinkum, Director of the CCOP Technical Secretariat and opening address by Dr. Tawsaporn Nuchanong, Director General of DMR, President of Geological Society of Thailand and Permanent Representative of Thailand to CCOP.

The 5th Asia-Pacific Coastal Aquifer Management Meeting (APCAMM) was held at University of Da Nang. Da Nang, Vietnam, July 17-19, 2017. The meeting was partly sponsored by MONRE and co-organised by Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment and the University of Danang. A total of 130 participants from Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Korea, Thailand, USA and Vietnam attended the meet. There were 31 oral presentations and 16 posters exhibited. CCOPTS had attended the meeting to expose and advertise CCOP as future partner of the activity.

The CCOP-KIGAM-UNESCO-MME Workshop “Transboundary aquifer-surface water management in Mekong basin” was held in Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia,25-26 July 2017.The workshop forms part of the activities programmed in the CCOP-KIGAM project “Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction and Comparative Study of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems in the Mekong Basin: Application to Transboundary Aquifer Management”. The objectives of the workshop are to promote the sharing of information and best practices among Mekong countries in transboundary aquifer management. The key players of each country in the Mekong River Basin are invited to address major issues and status of the groundwater management. Strategy to enhance collaboration to adapt to future challenges between neighboring countries is also discussed. A total of 22 participants from CCOP Member Countries (represented by Cambodia, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam), UNESCO Bangkok and CCOPTS attended the workshop.

The 8th National Coordinators Meeting or UCM8 was conducted at the Grand Inna Malioboro Hotel, Yogyakarta on 18-20 July 2017 with 30 participants. In attendance were the national coordinators / technical staff from Cambodia, China, Korea, Lao PDR, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Vietnam and  Indonesia, the host country. Technical staff from LEMIGAS and Geological Agency - Indonesia (GAI) represented the host country at the Meeting.  Also present are staff from CCOPTS and Dr Erica Greenhalgh of the British Geological Survey (BGS), as the main resource person on shale oil & gas resource assessment.  

Present at the Opening Ceremony were Dr Young-Jo Lee (Director of Global Cooperation Division - KIGAM), Dr Mohd Wafid Agung (Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to CCOP and Head of Center for Geological Survey - GAI), and Dr Adichat Surinkum (Director of CCOPTS).  Dr Wafid delivered the opening address and officially opened UCM8 on behalf of Dr Ego Syahrial, the Permanent Representative of Indonesia to CCOP and Head of GAI.

The Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) with the Royal Thai Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the Third Institute of Oceanography, China (TIO); Island Research Center, China (IRC); and State Oceanic Administration, China (SOA); under the Thailand-China Marine Cooperation, has co-organized a technical workshop on coastal management and geological survey techniques at the Sand Dunes Chaolao Beach Resort, Chanthaburi province, Thailand, 8–20 May 2017. The Workshop programs include 2 days of seminar on “Geological Coastal Management in Eastern Thailand” held 8-9 May 2017 and 15 days of on-boat and on-shore training at the coastal zone in Chanthaburi province, eastern Thailand. There were 168 participants, which include 14 participants from CCOP member countries (10 from China, 2 from Malaysia and 1 from Philippines) and 2 from the CCOPTS.

Within a series of regular training courses provided by KIGAM/ISGeo in collaboration with CCOP for member countries, the KIGAM/ISGeo training course on Exploration and Development of Mineral Resources was conducted from May 22- June 14, 2017 in the International School for Geoscience Resources of KIGAM, Daejeon, Korea, with total 22 participants including 12 participants from CCOP Member Countries.

The training course aims to enhance capacity building of professionals from all over the world in the fields of mineral resources and to foster familiarization with KIGAM and related organisations in Korea. The nearly 4-weeks training course provided participants a learning opportunity from basic to applicable level of mineral exploration and development and of related techniques in the field of geology, geophysics and geochemistry. The contents of this course comprised an overview on principles and genetic concepts of mineral deposit systems, mineral resources and their exploration and assessment, mining engineering and brief overview on mineral processing and extractive metallurgy. A total of seven instructors were involved in the course.