On May 13, 2009, Dr. Andreas Schild, Director of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and Prof. Ouyang Hua visited the ITP in Beijing. Prof. Yao Tandong welcomed them and briefed them on recent scientific achievement by the Institute. He also introduced the Third Pole Environment (TPE) project to the visitors. Dr. Schild approved the idea of describing the entire Tibetan Plateau region (including the Himalaya-Hindu Kush-Karakorum) as the Third Pole Region, and expected to promote this concept together with the Chinese partners. Acknowledging the upcoming Fifth International Symposium on Tibetan Plateau Research, he also expressed his will that the ICIMOD would play a larger role in the successful holding of the symposium.
On May 18, 2009, Dr. Basanta Shrestha, head of the Department of Remote Sensing in the ICIMOD, conducted an academic visit to the ITP. Prof. Ma Yaoming and some ITP scientific staff exchanged notes with them in Beijing. Prof. Xu Baiqing, deputy director of the Laboratory of Tibetan Environment and Land Surface Processes, also showed them around in the lab. On the basis of a deepened mutual understanding, both the ITP and ICIMOD scientific staff agreed to join hands in acquiring fundamental remote sensing data.
