The 12th Annual National Conference on the Prevention and Control of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), the 5th International Symposium on Catalytic Science and Technology in Sustainable Energy and Environment (5th EECAT), and the 2025 International Expert Symposium on Volatile Organic Compounds (collectively referred to as the 2025 Joint VOCs Conference) were successfully held from 6 to 8 November 2025 in Guangzhou. The event was co-organized by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Jinan University, South China University of Technology, and the VOCs Pollution Prevention and Control Committee of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences. Nearly 600 experts, scholars, industry professionals, and research students from over ten countries and regions attended the conference.
Initiated by Prof. Hai Guo, Professor of CEE in November 2023, the first International Expert Symposium on Volatile Organic Compounds was successfully held at PolyU. As the second international expert seminar on volatile organic compounds, this conference was jointly organized with domestic VOCs-related conferences, aiming to extend its international influence while deepening academic exchange within China.
The conference featured 10 plenary speeches delivered by leading VOCs experts, including Prof. Donald R. Blake from the University of California, Irvine, and Prof. Mathew Evans from the University of York, UK. As one of the five co-chairs of the organizing committee, Prof. Guo delivered keynote speeches in two sessions, focusing on indoor VOCs and VOCs impacts across different bay areas. The conference recognized outstanding student research, with Dr Enyu Xiong, PhD graduate supervised by Prof. Guo, receiving the Outstanding Student Presentation Award.
Participants shared cutting-edge research findings and strategic insights on VOCs pollution mechanisms, monitoring technologies, and control strategies etc. The event provided a high-level platform for academic exchange and aimed to advance VOCs pollution control technologies and global air quality management.
