I am Jean-Louis Roujean from France. My stay in China as a distinguished scientist supported by CAS President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) was a great experience for me. It was indeed a stimulating visit through the fruitful discussions I had with my dear Chinese colleagues and the exploration of different places. Science and culture are for me definitively linked. We cannot collaborate at the international level without better understanding the culture of our dear colleagues.

China-Greece Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Cultural Heritage Conservation Technology was launched on December 21 at the Palace Museum of China to promote S&T collaboration on cultural heritage protection in both countries.

The 42nd Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2021) was held at Can Tho, Viet Nam from 22 to 24 November 2021 with the theme on "Remote Sensing for Disaster Risk and Resources Degradation Reduction toward Sustainable Development".

A side event themed "Global Ecosystem and Environment Observation Analysis Research Cooperation (GEOARC) Supports for SDGs" was held online on 26 November with the goal to promote ecological environment governance by Earth observations and international cooperation.

AOGEO (Asia-Oceania, Group on Earth Observations GEO) TG7 (Task Group7) on Environmental Monitoring and Protection (EMP) Workshop was held online on November 5, 2021, with objectives to exchange views on technology advances and research results in the area of environmental monitoring and protection against the backdrop of COVID-19, and the next-phase plan of TG7 in support of GEO Engagement Priorities.