Foreign Aid Trainees of Tongji University Visit CWU

Some 40 trainees from a Foreign Aid Program visited China Women's University (CWU) on May 5, which was co-organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Ministry of Commerce and the UN Environment Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD).

Li Ying, dean of CWU's International Education College, teachers and masters from CWU's Foreign Aid Project participated in the event themed "Promoting Community and Environment Sustainability, Facilitating Academic and Cultural Exchange". 

CWU representatives warmly welcomed the visitors and led them visit the Women and Gender Library. The participants shared their knowledge and feelings of Chinese dish culture at the lunch, as well as their living experiences in China.

Afterwards, all the trainees visited the Exhibition Hall of CWU History. On behalf of the university, Li Ying vividly introduced CWU's history, educational mission, management characteristics, and its efforts and achievements in talent cultivation, discipline construction, international cooperation and social services.

The organizers also arranged a seminar on cross-culture and interdisciplinary communication. The trainees discussed in-depth their own national conditions, the situation of international environment and the relationship between social work and environment protection.

To mark the 2017 International Social Workers Day, CWU launched several activities for its foreign students and masters of social work in March. These activities created a platform for students to learn about different cultures and helped to promote community and environmental sustainability.

As the co-sponsors of the Ministry of Commerce's foreign aid project, CWU and Tongji University (TJU) established a long-acting cooperation mechanism. The training session laid a solid foundation for in-depth cooperation in all areas and promoted students' exchange and cooperation in developing countries. It is also the shared aspiration of these countries to achieve the sustainable development of communities and the environment. The organizers hoped that all the trainees could improve their social management abilities and join efforts to promote the sustainable development of the global environment.

At the end of the event, the visitors presented CWU students with embroideries of TJU's school badge, and the atmosphere was warm.

The IESD was jointly established by the UNEP and TJU on May 9, 2002. Guided by the "Higher Education Sustainability Initiative" and supported by "Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability", IESD is committed to mainstreaming environment and sustainable development into higher education, promoting education reform in sustainable development, and facilitating the reform of higher education system by incorporating the concepts and practices of environment and sustainable development.

(Source: China Women's University/Translated and Edited by Gender Study Network)