In order to cultivate the understandings and interests of young people in the learning of cultural heritage, deepen their perception of the value and charm of cultural heritage, and cultivate their international perspective and patriotism, the organizing committee of “the Global Cultural Heritage Little Messenger Conference” and “the World Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritors Conference” jointly held the “2023 World Intangible Cultural Heritage Youth International Education Principal Summit Forum” and the “2024 Global Intangible Cultural Heritage Little Messenger Overseas Visit Plan Release Conference” on 23 November in Beijing. A selection of SUIS Qingpu staff was invited to attend this conference.
2023 marks the 20th Anniversary of the adoption of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the 10th Anniversary of the proposal to jointly build the “the Belt and Road”. With the continuous development of China’s intangible cultural heritage protection work, especially the increasing popularity of youth learning intangible cultural heritage, while strengthening mutual learning and cultural exchanges with other countries, we continue to adhere to the concept of “harmony with differences” in cultural diversity, thus playing a specific and practical role in promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, achieving the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
The purpose of this forum is to jointly discuss how to cultivate the understanding and interest of young people in cultural heritage culture through exploring and learning cultural heritage, enhance their innovative and creative abilities as well as communication and expression abilities, so that young people can achieve cross-regional and intercontinental communication and understandings on the basis of developing deeper knowledge of the excellent traditional cultures of their country. While promoting the inheritance and dissemination of cultural heritage culture, the forum has profound significance in enhancing the cultural awareness and cultural confidence of young people. Cultural heritage is a critical component of excellent Chinese culture – its inheritance is not only a response to the era of promoting the education of the Chinese national community consciousness, but it also plays a vital role in the education of the Chinese national community consciousness. Based on the many innovative explorations our school has made in promoting intangible cultural heritage education for young people and international education, the Head of our Middle School Department, Ms. Rinna Ruan, represented our school in this forum for thematic exchanges. During the exchange process, the main focus was on student growth stories, introducing the specific practices of Qingpu Campus in the integrated curriculum system and sharing videos of enrichment trip courses. At this conference, our school was also awarded the “Demonstration School” for the 2024 Global Intangible Cultural Heritage Ambassador’s Overseas Visit to the Wu Yue Cultural Region.
Culture becomes colourful through exchanges, and civilization is enriched through mutual learning. Today, China and the world interact more, exchange more ideas, and integrate more deeply than ever before. In the future processes of education, our school will continue to lead students to have a more international perspective, take the initiative to shoulder new cultural missions, and strive to create more advanced experiences that can be referenced and replicated for the protection, inheritance, dissemination, and exchange of cultural heritage, providing maximum support in cultivating “globally competent” talents for the world.