• Keynote speech

• An Overview of Mid-Latitude Region: The importance of latitudinal approach (Prof. Woo-Kyun Lee, Korea University)
• Lessons learnt from the MDGs: figuring out trade-offs and synergies among different goals (Dr. Gerson Nyadzi, Millenium Promise Tanzania)
• Understanding Water-Food-Ecosystem Resilience (Dr. Florian Kraxner, IIASA)
• Effective Integration between Adaptation and mitigation for Water-Food-Ecosystem Resilience (Dr. Hyun Jung Park)

• ERA-PLANET: a European Research Area network for observing our changing planet (Prof. Kanaris Tsinganos, University of Athens)
• Food resilience through the increase of soil fertility (Prof. Kairat Yeskhozhin, Kazakh State Agrothechnical University)
• Ecological characteristics and carbon sequestration potential of forests and forestry under climate change strategies in Turkey (Prof. Ender Makineci, Istanbul University)
• New approaches to monitoring marine recreational water quality using microbial communities in Turkey (Prof. Nuket Sivri, Istanbul University)
• Water-Food-Ecosystem Responses to Climate Change and Resilience (Prof. Menas Kafatos, Chapman University)

• Forests of Mid-Latitude ecotone: vulnerability and transition to risk resilient forest management (Dr. Anatoly Shvidenko, IIASA)
• Viability of Moroccan agriculture in the context of climate change and the challenge of food security (Prof. Abdellatif Khattabi, Ecole Nationale Forestière d’Ingénieurs)
• Biodiversity conservation: Best insurance scheme to secure food, water, and energy for communities in the Hindukusch Himalayan Region (Dr. Sonam Wang, Bhutan Institute for Himalayan Studies)
• Climatic and anthropogenic aspects of the water balance transformation of the Siberian Forests (Dr. Alexander Onuchin, Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center)
• Implications of deep decarbonization for other SDGs: land-energy interactions (Dr. Sabine Fuss, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change)
• The GEO-CRADLE & BEYOND EU projects for building capacity, synergies, and infrastructures in the Earth Observation domain; address disaster management, adaptation to climate change, food security, access to raw materials and energy related societal needs in the Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle East, and the Balkans (Prof. Haris Kontoes, National Observatory of Athens)

• Mediterranean ecosystems resilience (Dr. Abdelhamid Khaldi, International Association of Mediterranean Forests)
• Adaptation strategies for Indochinese Peninsula under climate change through multi-scale crop modelling (Dr. Jong Ahn Chun, APEC Climate Center)
• The managed land use of suburban area of the Astana agglomeration (Dr. Zhuldix Moldumarova, Kazakh State Agrotechnical University)
• Water use and disaster management in Himalayan region (Prof. Rijan Kayastha, Climate and Disaster Research Center)
• The role and the development of sustainable forest management in protecting watersheds, regulating seasonal flow quantities and improving water quality in urbanised areas of the Central European region (Dr. Robert Hostnik, Slovenia Forest Service)

The United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD) hosted the Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on water-food-ecosystem resilience in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Korea, the Korean Ministry of Environment and Korea University.

193 UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015. Promoting synergies between the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, and effective integration across sectors is of major importance for achieving the Agenda.

Water and food (a griculture) sectors and the ecosystem are inextricably linked. While sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems is essential to ensure water and food security, sustainable management of water resources and food production is significant to protect terrestrial ecosystems. Climate change threatens food and water security as well as natural integrity and biodiversity of ecosystems. Therefore, building resilience to climate change in water, food and ecosystem is necessary to reduce the risks and achieve sustainable development. Countries in the mid-latitude region, broadly defined as the region between 30-60 degrees latitude, are facing increased stresses for water and food as well as land degradation and desertification.

With this backdrop, the EGM is designed to promote water-food-ecosystem resilience in the mid-latitude region by providing a platform for experts to share their knowledge and experience and to enhance cooperation in the mid-latitude region, which potentially establishes a long-term partnership within the research-policy interface for water-food-ecosystem resilience. Participating experts shared their experiences of how to tackle challenging areas in their national and sub-regional context.