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The registration is now closed.

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1. Background

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are components of air pollution that include a complex mixture of hundreds of carbon-containing gases. VOCs also include a wide variety of chemicals, some of which can cause short- and long-term adverse health effects. However, due to the unique characteristics of VOCs and the relatively high cost of measurement, VOCs monitoring and its related activities in the EANET region are still at an early stage. Since February 2023, the EANET has launched the “Feasibility for Promoting VOCs related Capacity Building in the EANET” project as part of the first batch of EANET Projects funded by the EANET Project Fund.

The Workshop “Knowledge Sharing for VOCs Related Activities in EANET” will be held at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters, Manila, Philippines, and online on Tuesday 14 November 2023, from 9:30 to 11:45 (UTC+8 Manila time), a pre-event to the Better Air Quality Conference (BAQ) 2023. This activity is implemented by the EANET and funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, (MOEJ) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Philippines, through the EANET Project Fund.

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2. Objectives

• The workshop aims to foster a comprehensive understanding and collaboration in the field of VOCs by bringing together experts, researchers, and practitioners in a multidisciplinary platform.
• Through focused sessions starting from monitoring, to modeling, and finally reaching policymaking, the workshop will aim to enhance knowledge exchange and advancements in VOCs-related activities.
• By addressing challenges, sharing insights, and showcasing innovative strategies, the workshop seeks to drive sustainable solutions for VOCs management, minimizing environmental impacts, and promoting effective regulatory measures.

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3. Expected Participants

The workshop will be attended online and/or in person by the EANET National Focal Points, Scientific Advisory Committee members, and other EANET members and partners, including policymakers, national researchers, and scientists. It will also welcome representatives of partner organizations working on related issues, as well as participants joining the BAQ conference in Manila.

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4. Program

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5. Speakers (in order of appearance – to be updated)

Mr. Bert Fabian

Mr. Bert Fabian is the Coordinator of the Secretariat for the EANET. He has been with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a Programme Officer since 2013 as lead for the Sustainable Mobility Unit’s activities in Asia and the Pacific. He has supported more than 15 countries in developing policies on transport, air pollution, and climate change and managed projects worth about 13.5 million USD including about 5.6 million USD allocated for Asia and the Pacific. Mr. Fabian coordinated the activities of UNEP with the Global Fuel Economy Initiative and managed the Electric 2&3 Wheelers project in East Africa and Southeast Asia. He also managed projects on strengthening the air quality management community of practice in Asia and the Pacific and on understanding the relationships between COVID-19 and air quality impacts, policies, and measures in cities.

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Mr. Yu KAMEI

Mr. Yu KAMEI graduated from Kyoto University with a Bachelor of Engineering. He joined the Ministry of the Environment, Japan in 2007. Since then, he worked on climate change measures, waste management, fishery resources conservation, environment impact assessment, radioactive materials countermeasures, and water pollution control, etc. in the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.  In 2020, he was seconded to Nasushiobara City as Deputy Mayor till 2023. Since July 2023, he has been the Director of the International Cooperation Office, Environment Management Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

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Dr. Yujiro Ichikawa

Dr. Yujiro Ichikawa is a researcher of the atmospheric environment group at the Center for Environmental Science in Saitama (CESS) Japan. He has specialized in analytical chemistry from his student days to the present. In addition to the field of atmospheric environment, he has been involved in research in other fields such as pesticides, mycotoxins, and environmental radioactivity, and has cultivated various experiences and knowledge and obtained many research results. In recognition of his research achievements to date, he has received encouragement and paper awards from several academic societies. Currently, he is actively engaged in research related to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are responsible for photochemical pollution and secondary organic aerosols, as well as research related to global warming substances (Fluorocarbons, etc.).

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Dr. Toshimasa Ohara

Dr. Toshimasa Ohara is a research director at the Center for Environmental Science in Saitama (CESS). After receiving a Ph.D. in 1982 in engineering from Hokkaido University, he has worked at the Institute of Behavioral Science, Shizuoka University, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES). His research fields are emission inventory development and chemical transport modeling of air pollutants at the urban and regional scales in Japan and East Asia. His group has developed a regional emission inventory in Asia, REAS, which is used in the world as a comprehensive emission dataset for air pollutants in Asia. He has served as former president of the Japan Society for Atmospheric Environment. Currently, he is a chairperson of the Air, Noise and Vibration Committee of the Central Environment Council of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and contributes to the linkage of science and policy in the field of atmospheric environment in Japan. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of EANET since 2012. His recent research subject is to analyze the long-term trends of ambient VOCs concentrations for validating the effectiveness of VOCs emission control in Japan.

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Dr. Kessinee Unapumnuk

Dr. Kessinee Unapumnuk is the Director of the Transboundary Air Pollution Sub-Division in the Air Quality and Noise Management Division of the Pollution Control Department (PCD) Thailand. She has been involved in Thailand’s Volatile Organic Compounds Management since 2007 and has been responsible for supervising the PCD’s VOCs monitoring network group and giving technical consultation for VOCs-related issues to PCD staff and others. Among other important projects, Dr. Unapumnak was previously the coordinator for the Thai-Japan Clean Air Partnership on Particulate Matter Reduction Strategy and Measures Development Project, a technical cooperation project between the Ministry of Environment, Japan, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand.

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Mr. Tian Junjie

Mr. Tian Junjie is an engineer at the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences and holds a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from the East China University of Science and Technology. His focus is on the development and compilation of high-resolution emission inventories for various atmospheric pollution sources, high-resolution emission inventory of reactive volatile organic compounds from anthropogenic sources in the Yangtze River Delta region, as well as a national scale emission inventory of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. In the context of integrated ecological and sustainable initiatives in the Yangtze River Delta, he also engages in extensive research focused on investigating the causes and origins of air pollution as well as the emission reduction potential of air pollutants and carbon.

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Dr. Feng Miao

Dr. Feng Miao is a Senior Engineer from the Chengdu Academy of Environmental Sciences. She is responsible for the operation and management of the Chengdu Key Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. She has long been dedicated to studying atmospheric monitoring and air pollution formation mechanisms. She also focuses on developing strategies to prevent and control air pollution, specifically in catering fume pollution, where she is contributing to the development of local emission standards for cooking fumes in Chengdu. Dr. Feng Miao has published over 30 academic papers, applied for 1 invention patent, and holds 3 software copyrights in the academic field. Dr. Feng Miao has actively participated in several national and provincial science and technology projects.

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Prof. Meng Fan

Prof. Meng Fan is the Deputy Director General in charge of the Network Center for EANET, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP). Prior to this position, he was Deputy Chief Engineer, Director of the Institute of Atmospheric Environment, and Director of the Research Department for the 2+26 Cities in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES). He has been conducting research in the fields of air quality modeling, atmospheric chemistry, air pollution control policy, and synergistic control of air pollution and climate change. Dr. Meng Fan has been published as the author and co-author of over 80 papers in highly regarded, peer-reviewed journals and is also an adjunct professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Normal University and Tongji University of China.

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For further inquiries, contact the Network Center for the EANET.