3rd Belt and Road Teenager Maker Camp and Teacher Workshop held in Nanning- China - Enthusiastic Participants from 33 Countries and regions Joined In, including Seven ECO Member States
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3rd Teenager Maker Camp and Teacher Workshop were successfully held from 25-29 September 2019 at Nanning No.2 High School in the Beautiful and Green City of Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, P.R. China. The annual event is organized by China Association of Science and Technology (CAST) through its Children and Youth Science Centre (CYSCC), Ministry of Science and Technology of China and local S&T Associations and supported by ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF), InterAcademy Partnershipr Science Education Programme (IAP SEP) and the Network of Academies of Science of African Cooperation (NASAC). This 3rd annual event was jointly opened by the Vice President and Executive Secretary of CAST Mr. Meng Qinghai. Vice Chairman of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Mr. Huang Junhua; the Director General of Children and Youth Science Center of CAST (CYSCC), Mr. Liu Yang and President ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) Prof. Manzoor H. Soomro.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Meng Qinghai cordially welcomed the distinguished guests/participants from Asia, Europe, Americas and Africa and said that it was an important mission of science education to strengthen the international exchanges and cooperation in science education, work together to improve the scientific quality of young people, and cultivate the reserve force for the development of science and technology innovation. The China Association for Science and Technology adheres to the concept of open collaboration and is willing to exchange and share with the rest of the world and cooperate in depth to promote resource sharing, information exchange, talent exchange and pragmatic cooperation in countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”. I hope more friends can join us and contribute to the sustainable and high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” science education in future, he said. Other speakers included leaders of local party, City government, representative of MoST, President, ECOSF and Executive Secretary of NASAC.
Prof. Soomro, in his remarks, appreciated the CYSCC, Guangxi-Zhuang Government and Nanning Municipality for making marvelous arrangements for the camp. He also said that the collaboration of ECOSF and CYSC of CAST started in 2017 and getting stronger day by day. He briefly introduced ECOSF and said that the Foundation is an intergovernmental organization of ten countries of ECO region working for promotion of science, technology and innovation (STI) leading to socioeconomic development of the region. He further said that he hoped that the participants specially the students and youth will learn and develop networking with other fellow participants from the world.
This year, the event was held outside Beijing for the first time in green city of Nanning, Guangxi-ZhuangAutonomous region of China which is an important hub for the Maritime Silk Road. The teams comprising of students, teachers, entrepreneurs and officials from 33 countries and regions joined the event.
With efforts of ECOSF, seven ECO countries i.e., Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan with total of 49 people (32 high school students and 17 teachers/officials) participated in the camp.
During one week long event, the students and teachers were divided into separate groups and assigned various scientific tasks in the fields of intelligent robots, colorful chemistry, model world, electronic art and video production. The students developed the smart projects and presented before the Jury on final day of the camp.
The students and teachers were also taken to visit Guangxi Science and Technology Museum where they experienced models of different technologies such as space, robotics, nuclear power, chemistry, physic, etc. A visit to entertainment park was also arranged for the participants. Chinese culture is one of the oldest culture of the world with rich blended cultures of different Chinese regions. In this context, a cultural night was also arranged where the students from 33 countries and regions displayed their rich culture through performing cultural dances, songs, attires, etc. It was amazing to see the participants in exotic colours.
Following are some glimpses of the activities:
On the final day of the camp, the students presented their models before the Jury for final selection. Afterwards, an award ceremony was held and the students were presented the medals and certificates in three categories such as Best Maker, Best Presentation and Best Teamwork. President ECOSF was among the dignitaries awarding the winner students.
It is pertinent to mention that International Science Education Forum, Annual Meeting of Belt and Road International Science Education Coordinating Committee (BRISECC) and the Teachers Training Workshop for piloting of the Fusion of OBOR Civilizations Curriculum for Education (FoCEd) were also held.
The camp was concluded very successfully and the happiness of participants was evident on the faces of the participants, especially the students.