Department of Geography

Announcement

We are proud to announce the new dates for the 4th International Conference of SilkGIS (SilkGIS 2020) to be held in Ghent (Belgium) on December 16-17th, 2020 (technical visits on December 15th and/or 18th), following 3 successful International SilkGIS former editions.

Originally planned in July 2020, the organizing committee was unfortunately forced to postpone the dates from early July (initially) to December , due to the current COVID-19 (Corona virus).

The SilkGIS conferences were initiated by the Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (RCEECA) and the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and were organized in the past respectively in 2017 in Isfahan (Iran), in 2018 in Chengdu (China) and in 2019 in Murmansk (Russia). The conferences aim to exchange ideas, technologies, scientific findings, and knowledge among academics, scientists, policy makers, public servants, and practitioners in the fields of geospatial information sciences and technology, natural resources, environment, planning, business and management.

SilkGIS is referring to the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes and to the exchange of knowledge along this network. There are traces of cultural exchanges over more than 2000 years. The larger region of exchange faces today important environmental issues which are strengthen by climate and land use changes. Geographical information is playing a major role in assuring stability and a safe future in the whole region.

SilkGIS2020 will focus on the role of GIS for a better management of land, water and the quality of life. Special attention will be given to (subjects not limited to) the development of the geospatial technologies and databases for biodiversity and ecosystems, big data in GI, mapping and management of natural resources, natural hazards and emergency management, water-drought issues in the context of climate and land-use change, GI for natural and cultural heritage,...

The organizer of the 2020 edition of SilkGIS is the department of Geography, Ghent University (Belgium). The conference will start on Wednesday 16th in the morning and will continue until Thursday 17th in the evening at the premises of Ghent University (Belgium).

The conference will be preceded by optional visits to the Ghent University Museum and Library, Mercator museum ( Sint-Niklaas) and Bruges or Antwerp. A detailed programme will be available and announced (very) soon.

Registration

All attendees are required to register for the conference. The registration fee includes the access to the conference programme and sessions, lunch, morning and afternoon coffee/tea. It is required that at least one author of each accepted paper registers in advance, so that the paper could be included in the conference programme as an oral or poster presentation.

Venue

Ghent University
building Het Pand
Onderbergen 1
9000 Ghent (Belgium)

coordinates: 51°03'10" N, 3°43'13" E

Het Pand is the culture and congress center of Ghent University. It is a unique building is a former Dominican Monastery, situated beside the river Leie in the historic center of the city of Ghent.

Instructions for reaching Ghent coming from Brussels airports (BRU and CRL) or from Brussels-Midi railway station, will soon be putted on the conference website.

Scientific Committee

• Download the list

Organizing Committee

• Download the list

Contact information

UGent, Department of Geography, telephone number: +32 9 2644695

Practical information

• The conference website
• Hotels in Ghent (make your hotel reservation in time, the conference period is also a holiday period in Europe)
• Ghent University
• Ghent University Museum
• What to visit in Ghent
• Info about the building