Mutual learning across continents is one of the key imperatives behind the launch of our China Sustainability Hub and the focus of a China Daily article about the Hub, which is coordinated by Beijing Normal University School of Social Development and Public Policy (BNU-SSDPP)

In Research hub helps China’s sustainable development Cecily Liu today reports that the Hub’s research focus will cover three main areas: agricultural transformation; technology collaboration for international development; and low carbon innovation and sustainable cities.

Liu quotes our Hub lead, Zhang Qiang, Associate Dean at BNU-SSDPP, saying the initiative provides a multidisciplinary platform for China to share its learning on sustainability with other regions, and vice versa.

“We connect all sorts of perspectives through the hub, including low carbon technology, sustainability policy and poverty reduction. Academics in these areas tend to conduct separate research and focus on their own discipline, but we realize there are benefits from working together,” Zhang said.

“Many of the lessons on achieving sustainability in China can be shared with other emerging countries globally, Zhang said. “For example, China’s large scale poverty reduction and fast urbanization process can be inspiring to many other countries, and sharing these experiences is also a goal of our work,” he added.

Dr Adrian Ely, Deputy Director and Head of Impact and Engagement at STEPS Centre, told China Daily the new collaboration with Chinese partners – based on decades of working together – is significant in terms of both the domestic Chinese sustainability agenda and the impact of China’s sustainability in other parts of the world.

Read the full report (in English) on China Daily’s website