President of Hebei University of Architecture: Shi Yongjiang
Honorable leaders and colleagues,
How are you!
The Belt and Road Forum of International Cooperation which was held in May, 2019 made China become the focus of world’s attention. This is a new international cooperation model which is guided by peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and reference and mutual benefits and win-win result. It is characterized as openness and also adheres to the principles of discussion together, sharing and building together. More and more Chinese enterprises are eager to go abroad to conduct business after the implementation of the Belt and Road strategy. But the lack of high level international inter-disciplinary talents has become the largest bottleneck. Promoting the build of the Belt and Road is a grand systematic project and it leads to higher requirements for Chinese higher education to face international market, serve the overall strategic situation and explore new development functions. It also provides us with valuable opportunities and a broader stage for internationalization and development of higher education Higher education institutions make contributions to training of talents, cooperation in running schools, cultural exchange and cooperation in scientific research and so on.
How do colleges and universities take the responsibility for training of the talents for the Belt and Road? It has become a current important mission for higher education institutions.
Under the new circumstance, “Serve for the needs, improve the quality” is the core mission for deepened reformation of higher education. And how to serve well for the needs of national strategies is the problem needs to be solved for colleges and universities. We believe that talents play important roles in the establishment of the “Belt and Road”. Promoting the establishment of the “Belt and Road” requires urgently the strong support of intelligence and guarantee of talents. Colleges and universities should ensure their advantages and location while exploring the requirements for training of talents.
Not only does the establishment of the “Belt and Road” need leaders who own broad horizon and pioneering spirit including international talents, but also need the employees and managers who are specialized in infrastructure, manufacture, production, transportation, safety, finance, economics, diplomacy, law, language, history and so on. And any university is unable to be qualified alone. Colleges and universities should cooperate with each other and try the alliance of different types of universities and the combination of different disciplines and make use of respective advantages to establish the educational platform for training of inter-disciplinary, inter-university and inter-region talents for the “Belt and Road”.
Training talents is the essential mission for higher education and the lasting impetus of the promotion for the establishment of the “Belt and Road”. In the last few years, domestic colleges and universities have made effort to explore the strategies of training talents for the establishment of the “Belt and Road” in order to keep on promoting the ancient Silk Road with a history of thousands of years to display new vigor. In fact, the countries along the “Belt and Road” all have a common characteristic. It is that all of them think highly of the practical higher education in China consistently, especially the higher education for engineering technologies including the education for architecture in science and engineering field. And they hope that Chinese colleges and universities can train lots of practical and technical talents for local in order to realize better butt joint with Chinese investment and strengthen the communication and cooperation with China and promote the fast development of local economic society and comprehensive national strength. A lot of developing countries usually have the common mission to develop economics. By referring to Chinese experience and introducing Chinese educational models and sources, they can train local engineering technical talents.
The “Belt and Road Architectural University International Consortium” which is initiated by Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture meets the requirements and it also serves to the Chinese higher education better while making contribution to the strategies of “Belt and Road”.
1. Establishment of institutions is supporter for the needs of docking talents
In the last few years, in order to dock the developing strategies and needs of talents for the countries which are along the “Belt and Road”, many domestic colleges and universities establish new institutions and use these institutions as supporters to initiate forwardly projects related to overseas students.
For example, at present, many domestic universities have signed agreements about jointly developing central Asian institutions with countries along the “Belt and Road”, such as some central Asian countries. Some scholarships for central Asian overseas students are established specially to attract the students from central Asian countries to study here and train practical and technical talents for these countries. Scientific research is one of the important functions of modern universities and it plays an important role in promoting the establishment of the “Belt and Road”. For example, some universities are cooperating with countries along the “Belt and Road” to establish “Science and economic research center”. They will establish think tanks, set up platforms and offer services to devote themselves to carry out research of countries and regions with these countries, promote mutual cooperation in many aspects and help China-invested enterprises to train local talents to satisfy economic and social needs. The establishment of the “Belt and Road” is a long-term strategic mission which needs not only farsighted strategic plans but also reasonable scientific implementation schemes. The establishment of “Belt and Road” is a complicated systematic project which involves many aspects of economics and society. Colleges and universities should cooperate with related departments, local partners and enterprises. Using the advantage of intelligence can play a positive role in research of strategy and development of the projects. Developing model in which the projects are core should be explored. Communication and cooperation about science and economics should be undertaken while strengthening the cooperation about training talents.
2. Carry out overall cooperation based on university consortium
Many universities adopt the method of establishing university consortiums to strengthen the overall cooperation with domestic and foreign universities while serving for the “Belt and Road” significant strategy. And this is an international education cooperation activity on an unprecedented scale.
The aim of Belt and Road Architectural University International Consortium, which was initiated by Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, is to explore the new talents training model of cross-cultural training and cross-border flow and to promote the interaction between teachers and students in universities of consortium. By cooperation in education, co-construction of specialty, joint training, cooperation in innovation and so on to promote the overall cooperation between the Belt and Road Architectural Universities. We should promote the synthetically reformation in education and internationalization of education, establish the platform for training of international talents, collaborative innovation in science and cultural communication. We should improve the educational vitality of universities in consortium, quality of talents training, capability of scientific innovation, capability of serving the society and level of international communication. We should forwardly adapt to the imperious needs of excellent international talents for globalized development and establish think tank platforms for joint business, joint establishment, sharing, promotion of communication of popular feelings, communication and reference of culture. We should improve the development and creativity in the field of architecture. We should devote ourselves to making contributions to the development and integration of human culture and openness and cooperation of higher education. We should enhance the overall communication and cooperation of universities in consortium and promote the synthesized reformation of education and internalization of education. We should establish the platform for training of international talents, collaborative innovation in science and cultural communication.
The “Belt and Road Architectural University International Consortium” will devote itself to training of high-quality and international architectural engineering technological talents, innovation of educational model, training high-level architectural engineering technological talents with strong practical ability.
3. Train professional talents based on the advantages of subjects.
As an architectural university with highlighted dominant majors and distinctive architectures which focuses on engineering subjects, it should exert its advantages positively and strengthen the training of professional talents based on the advantages of subjects in order to train “Chinese” architectural engineering technological talents for countries along the “Belt and Road”.
Firstly, universities satisfying the conditions should take measures positively and make plans in advance to arrange and adjust the matters about overseas students and focus on establishing high-level enrollment platforms covering the countries along the “Belt and Road”. Secondly, we should focus on strengthening the professional establishment of all-English architectural engineering lectures in order to train more high-level teaches in the field of engineering who take part in the training and lectures of overseas students. Thirdly, based on overseas cooperation projects whose aims are to expand the overseas business for architectural enterprises, we should cooperate with enterprises to carry out international and customized training of the talents in the field of architecture. Fourthly, we should make effort to construct cooperation platforms for the education of countries along the “Belt and Road” and cooperate with countries and enterprises along the “Belt and Road”. And we should sign cooperation agreements with domestic enterprises about training overseas students who come to China for studying so as to train local talents for these enterprises and solve the problem of lacking talents, especially the issue about the shortage of technological management talents.
4. Play a key role and expand the communication about culture.
Communication about culture plays an irreplaceable and important role in the construction of “Belt and Road”. Colleges and universities, which are important bases of production and diffusion of knowledge and are main force for people-to-people communication, have advantages about culture and knowledge. Considering the regions along the “Belt and Road”, colleges and universities adjust measure to local conditions to carry out different types of cross-universities cooperation, communication between teachers and students, study and cooperation. Communication about culture, art and sports can promote the distribution of knowledge and development of region. It also can promote the communication about culture and meeting of people while building good international environment. Meanwhile, considering regions along the “Belt and Road”, colleges and universities carry out many types of communications and cooperation about education. And deepening communication of culture is also one of the important value orientations and concrete indications of universities’ international development. At present, the communication and cooperation between domestic universities and countries along the “Belt and Road” is not thorough enough and communication about culture is not broad enough. There are not enough influential regional education cooperation and cultural exchange mechanism. Most of all, architectural universities do not have both high-level knowledge storage about “Belt and Road” and high cognitive level of teachers and students. People who are specialized in the research about countries along “Belt and Road” are few and the related books and materials are also few. It means that we can make great contribution to deepening communication between architectural universities and regions along the “Belt and Road”.
5. Seize the development opportunities and serve the construction of regions
Zhangjiakou is an ancient channel where people in multi nations communicate with each other while being important international trade port city in Eurasia. At present, relying on the world influence of Olympic Winter Games, “Belt and Road” and “Prairie Silk Roads”, Zhangjiakou is trying hard to build the path for leading Zhangjiakou to the world and make the world know more about Zhangjiakou.
In the last few years, Zhangjiakou City have met three opportunities including coordinated development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, cooperation between Zhang and Beijing about holding Olympic Winter Games and constructing national demonstration area of renewable energy sources. As important national strategies, coordinated development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and construction of “Belt and Road” provide higher education in Hebei and Hebei University of Architecture with historic opportunities of developing while creating favorable developing environment.
Firstly, universities will positively be a part of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and play a leading role in promoting synthesized reformation of universities, co-construction and sharing educational sources, cooperation, innovation and so on. They will offer the effective supports about intelligence, technologies and talents, who play irreplaceable roles in the field of architecture, for development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. Secondly, we should seize the opportunity of holding Olympic Winter Games in 2022 by Beijing and Zhangjiakou. We should also make use of the advantages and major characteristics of the only engineering college located in Zhangjiakou region to support Olympic Games and serve Olympic Games by using all possible chances. We should play positive roles in planning and designing, construction of stadiums, municipal projects, environmental protection, equipment support, voluntary services, training the talents and so on. Thirdly, as the main gathering place of regional scientific resources, the university will positively meet the needs of construction of demonstration area for renewable energy source in Zhangjiakou city. Ant it will further strengthen the spirit of serving society to offer strategic decision-making consultant support to demonstration area for renewable energy source. Fourthly, the university will place itself in the national strategies such as the construction of “Belt and Road” in order to accelerate the construction of multi-disciplinary university which is characterized for architectural industrial subjects. The university will promote the energy-saving in the architectures and development of green buildings. It will also make use of its disciplinary advantages which own supporting and leading impact on improving the level of the industry. The university will train a lot of modern engineering and technological management talents who stand on the front line of development of multi-field technologies.
Above all, the “Belt and Road” will be a long-term and onerous process which requires massy intelligent support and guarantee of talents. It has created new opportunity for development of domestic colleges and universities and puts forward to new higher demands for which colleges and universities should accelerate the construction of teachers’ teams and reformation of education, accelerate the improvement of international level and try to play a better role in that. We believe, relying on the Belt and Road Forum of International Cooperation, the “Belt and Road Architectural University International Consortium” will definitely make greater contributions to training international architectural talents.
Thank you very much!
