Nov. 14, 2022 | Office of International Student Affairs

On the morning of Nov. 14, the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Training Program on Zero-Waste City and Carbon Neutrality was held. The training program is hosted by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and co-organized by Shanghai Polytechnic University and the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (BCRC). The participants included Ding Li, SSPU Vice President, Qiao Liqing, Director of International Office, Professor Guan Jie and related professors of the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Professor Li Jinhui, Executive Director of BCRC and relevant representatives, and 28 trainee representatives nominated by 19 countries including Romania, Afghanistan, Thailand, Malaysia, etc. The ceremony was presided over by Sun Yan, Director of the Office of International Student Affairs and Dean of School of International Exchange.

Professor Guan Jie briefed on the program background.

Professor Li Jinhui from BCRC pointed out that zero-waste city and carbon neutrality was one of the significant directions toward which the global environmental governance of BCRC is pushed forward. He hoped that the training this time could build a platform for mutual assistance and exchange for the countries along the Belt and Road.

Vice President Ding Li delivered a speech and announced the opening of the training program. Ding Li expressed gratitude to the BCRC for its long-term support and assistance to SSPU, and to the officials and technicians of environmental departments of countries along the Belt and Road for their consensus on global environmental governance. It is hoped that by carrying out innovative cooperation on "zero-waste city" and "carbon neutrality" with countries along the Belt and Road, the concept and capacity of eco-environmental protection in such countries will be enhanced. We will promote these countries to jointly handle the relationship between economic development and environmental protection, minimize the dependence on the original ecological resource, and finally realize the green transformation of the regional economy.

The Belt and Road training program is jointly applied by the Office of International Student Affairs and the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering. It was carried out in 2018 and 2019 at SSPU with the support of BCRC. Nearly 50 government officials of environmental management departments from 22 countries including Pakistan, Indonesia and South Africa participated to have academic and technical exchanges on the development of urban mineral resources technology and pollution control. This year, according to the development direction of global environmental governance, the program focused on training high-level talents for zero-waste urban construction and carbon neutrality. The training mainly covers aspects such as the international development trend of "zero-waste city", the current status of construction and management of "zero-waste city" in China, the technologies and paths to carbon neutrality, and the pollutants prevention and reduction. It helped the trainees understand and master the method of building "zero-waste city" and the path to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. It is alsobeneficial to realize green transformation and joint pursuant of ecological civilization in the Belt and Road regions, making contributions to the sustainable development of all mankind.