From 6 to 8 November 2025, 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 co-organised by the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) of PolyU, Jinan University, South China University of Technology, and the VOCs Pollution Prevention and Control Committee of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, among other institutions. The conference was held in Guangzhou and attracted nearly 600 experts, scholars, industry professionals, and research students from over ten countries and regions.
The International VOCs Experts Symposium originated from a workshop initiated by Prof. GUO Hai, management committee member of RILS and Professor of CEE, in late November 2023 at PolyU, which received widespread acclaim. This year’s event, the second International VOCs Experts Symposium, was held in conjunction with two domestic VOCs-related conferences, aiming to expand its international influence while deepening academic exchange within China.
The conference featured 10 plenary speeches delivered by leading VOCs experts worldwide. As one of the five co-chairs of the organizing committee, Prof. Guo invited Prof. Donald R. BLAKE from the University of California, Irvine, and Prof. Mathew EVANS from the University of York, UK, to deliver the opening and closing plenary speeches, respectively. Prof. Guo also presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Prof. Blake during the opening ceremony and chaired the closing ceremony.
The conference included 12 parallel sessions, 350 high-level academic presentations, and 50 poster displays. Prof. Guo delivered keynote speeches in two sessions, focusing on indoor VOCs and VOCs impacts across different bay areas. The conference also recognised outstanding student presentations and posters, with Dr. XIONG Enyu, a recent PhD graduate from Prof. Guo’s group, receiving the Outstanding Student Presentation Award.
The conference provided a platform for experts to share cutting-edge research findings and strategic insights on key topics such as VOCs pollution mechanisms, monitoring technologies, control strategies, and global collaborative governance. The event contributed innovative solutions for advancing VOCs pollution control technologies and global air quality management.
| Research Units | Research Institute for Land and Space |
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