MEMBERS of the public intending to attend the public lectures and the theme forum of the 19th International Botanical Congress (IBC) can make reservations on the official website and official WeChat account of the congress starting Friday, the organizing committee said.

Intended participants can scan the QR code of the congress to enter the pubic online reservation platform and fill in personal information for approval. Applicants must be above the age of 12 and the organizer will send a confirmation and approval notice within five working days of receiving an application.

According to Jiao Genlin, head of the meeting and Internet telecommunications team of the organizing committee, the public lectures, which are the only lectures at the botanical congress that are open to the public, will be held in Hall 5 of Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

The lectures will be arranged on weekends or on weekday evenings during the IBC between July 23 and 29.

“The lectures will focus on the mission of botanical science development and hot issues of public concern. The lecturers enjoy high prestige in the world of botanical science and four of the five confirmed lecturers are academicians from national academies in China, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The first lecture will be held at 5 p.m. July 23, the opening day of the IBC. In the 50-minute report, Peter H. Raven, a well-known American botanist and honorary chairman of the 19th IBC — who was born in Shanghai in 1936 — will elaborate on the “Botanical Science Shenzhen Statement,” which will be released during the IBC, and put forward the theme of the congress, which is to call the public to show more concern about plants and agriculture.

The second lecture, on “Human Beings and Plants: the Unbreakable Bond,” will be presented by U.K. botanist Sandra Knapp at 7 p.m. July 24. Yang Huanming, a well-known genomic scientist, will give a lecture on life and the genome at 7 p.m. July 25.

Peter R. Crane, a U.K. botanist, will lecture on the gingko plant July 27 and Barbara A. Schaal, from the Department of Biology at Washington University, St. Louis, will give a lecture on the “Past and Future of Plants and Human Beings” on July 28.

The lecturers will also leave some time for discussion and a Q&A section.

The Shenzhen Forum on the Power of Plants will be held in Hall 5 at 2 p.m. July 23. The organizer invited Wang Shi, chairman of a joint conference of the Shenzhen Mangrove Foundation, Wang Jian, chairman of BGI and Stephen Blackmore, chairman of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, to each give a 25-minute keynote speech on the power of plants for the sustainable development of the globe. (Han Ximin)