As a continuation of the successful cooperation in 2019 (learn more), the Sino-German Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) and the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) jointly organized the second seminar “Sustainable Development Seminar – From Global Goals to Local Implementation” as one of the courses in UIBE’s Summer School programme, during July 5 to 14, 2021.
This course brought back Dr. Ulrich Müller and Carolina de la Lastra to jointly deliver the eight day-long intensive seminars. Due to the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, a hybrid and innovative form of online classroom was adopted and made possible to the interactive teaching from Europe to students sitting in Beijing.
The seminar not only aimed at bringing the world of development cooperation closer to students but also let students experience the means and methods for innovative, participatory implementation, flexibility and collaboration towards a common goal. The topics of case studies covered a wide range and interest from gender equality in Nepal, environment protection in Indonesia, energy efficiency in Paraguay, to product innovation with sustainable resources like bamboo in Ghana.
In the last session, the students presented their projects to a panel of practitioners, composed of Mr Hagen Ettner, German Director of the CSD, Mr Florian Miss, director of the project “Support of Regional Economic Cooperation in Asia”, and Ms Duan Weihua, AIBO – implementing agency of human resources capacity building component in China foreign assistance efforts. Impressed with the progress made by the students in UIBE within only days of learning, all three panelists shared their knowledge and advice based on their decades of experience in international development cooperation.
Apart from getting theoretical and conceptual inputs, students also received in-depth insights on China’s international development cooperation from guest lecturer Sun Tianshu, a junior researcher of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation CAITEC) and had the chance to exchange with students from the German Technical University Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt).
All thirty-nine students from UIBE successfully completed the Summer School course and received their certificates awarded by the panel members and Ms Huo Yuan, Deputy Director of International Department, UIBE.
