On the afternoon of September 22, the establishment ceremony of Worldwide Energy University Network & University Presidents Forum was held in China University of Petroleum-Beijing.
Xu Tao, Director of Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, Ministry of Education, Huang Kan, Deputy Director of Beijing Education Committee, Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General of International Energy Forum (IEF), Kunba Mundai, Ambassador of the Republic of South Sudan to China, Wang Fengdan, Chairman of IET Education Foundation, and representatives of 28 member universities and energy industries attended the conference. About 700 participants were represented by all the leaders, some teachers and students of China University of Petroleum-Beijing, and the founding meeting was presided over by Li Gensheng, the Vice President.
Xu Tao congratulated the establishment of the Worldwide Energy University Network. He said that China University of Petroleum -Beijing has responded positively in recent years to serve our nation's “Belt and Road Initiative”, expanding the scope of international exchange and cooperation, and continuously enhancing its international influence and taking the lead in worldwide energy universities. The Worldwide Energy University Network initiated by China University of Petroleum -Beijing is an embodiment of China’s active dialogue with the world, contribution of China's wisdom and sharing of China's plans. It is also a vivid epitome of China's higher education actively integrating into the world at a higher level, a greater pattern and a deeper level. It will further promote different types of energy universities in different countries to develop characteristics, complement shortcomings and coordinate development, which will be of great significance for promoting the development of energy industry and solving energy challenges facing mankind. He hoped that the Worldwide Energy University Network would overall plan, broaden the scope of cooperation modes, take a long-term perspective and deepen the depth of research and development, attach importance to humanities and enhance the cooperation among alliance members, form a vivid situation of resource sharing and exchange of each other’s needs, and respond to the needs of current economy and society for energy development, reserve and protection. He also hoped this alliance would prepare, think and solve energy crisis and supply challenges that human society may encounter in the long run, put forward mutual visits and mutual learning, and write a new era cooperation chapter with humanistic concern.
Huang Kan fully affirmed CUPB's efforts on the establishment of the Worldwide Energy University Network and expressed his great expectations on this alliance. He said that high-level cooperation among world-class universities is an important part of the opening-up of national education. He hoped that the alliance members would take this opportunity to deepen all-round and multi-level international cooperation among themselves, expand communications on educational exchange, research cooperation and talent training, further strengthen the strategic consensus of win-win cooperation, and help contribute to the economic and social development of Beijing.
Sun Xiansheng pointed out that the alliance of world-class energy universities through this network will help build up a cooperation platform of scientific research and higher education exchange, which will have great significance in promoting the exchange of teachers and students among universities, cultivating high-level and internationalized multi-disciplinary talents, and advancing the research innovation and industry development in the energy field.
During the General Assembly this morning, CUPB was elected as the Chair of the General Assembly for the first term. On behalf of the university, Shan Honghong, Chancellor of CUPB, expressed gratitude to the alliance, and warmly welcomed all the attendees. She pointed out that, CUPB has persisted in implementing its internationalization strategy for many years, and has established multi-level, multi-field and multi-channel communication and cooperation relations with more than 170 universities and companies abroad. All the member universities of the alliance have solid cooperation foundation and good cooperation relationship with CUPB. The establishment of this alliance is not only the fruit of past cooperation between us, but also the beginning of deepening cooperation between member universities in the future. She expressed her hope of this alliance to act in line with the concept of “mutual-communication, openness and inclusiveness, synergetic innovation and win-win cooperation”, to achieve the “consultation, co-construction and sharing” among alliance members, and to have more substantive cooperation in discipline construction, joint scientific research, student training, teacher visits, cultural exchanges and other aspects, so as to build a global higher education community with a shared future in the field of energy.
Alliance member representatives, Matthias Ruth, Vice-President of University of Alberta, and Martynov Victor, President of Russian State Gubkin Oil and Gas University, also gave a speech respectively to congratulate on the formal establishment of the Worldwide Energy University Network.
At the establishment ceremony, representatives of all member universities of the Worldwide Energy University Network jointly launched the button to declare the formal initiation of this alliance.
After the launching ceremony, Zhang Laibin, President of CUPB, read out the Alliance Declaration, made a report named as “Work Hand in Hand to Build a World Community of Higher Education in the Field of Energy” on behalf of other alliance members and illustrated the reason, content and future of the establishment of the alliance. He pointed out that alliance members should grasp the new opportunity provided by international consensus of the "Belt and Road Initiative" in the new era for the greater opening, communication and integration of higher education in the field of energy, work together with joint hands to cope with the new problems and challenges facing the world energy system. He emphasized that the alliance would actively build a closer and stronger partnership network, pool strength and seek common development, promote the connotative development and quality improvement of member universities through substantive cooperation of various forms and rich contents, promote cooperative running of schools and joint training of students, carry out joint scientific research, and continuously and systematically promote mutual recognition and sharing of credits among member universities, and increase the number of students receiving from and exporting to other. Looking forward to the future, Zhang Laibin pointed out that all member universities will work together to promote the systematic cooperation of energy universities under the trend of global energy development, realize resource sharing, mutual benefit within the alliance, and promote scientific research and talent training in the energy industry in a coordinated manner, so as to promote academic exchanges and humanistic exchanges, and promote people-to-people communication, so as to build the alliance into a multi-disciplinary platform for worldwide energy universities of sustainable cooperation, human resource exportation, scientific research cooperation, industry-university-research cooperation and common aspiration of the people.
The University Presidents Forum was held afterwards, representatives from member universities made keynote reports on the theme of “Prospects for Higher Education Development in Oil and Gas Field" and other energy-related topics.
(Edited by Lu Ji)
