A total of 15 delegates from nine public universities in eight countries attended the 7th annual meeting of the International Forum of Public Universities (IFPU) at Tianjin's Nankai University (NKU) on Oct 28.
This year's meeting, with the theme “Technological Innovation, Social Transformation and Competitiveness of Public Universities”, included discussions on topics such as fundraising models at public universities, industrial collaboration models, education and research in public universities, ways to enhance students' innovative capabilities, and also how to increase cooperation among members of the IFPU, and E-learning.
Gong Ke, president of NKU, attended the ceremony and the executive roundtable, and said that public universities play an important role in China's economy and its cultural and technology sectors. He also said that, due to the global economic crisis, public universities now face multiple challenges and difficulties, such as equal rights concerning educational opportunities, caused by the issue of increases in tuition fees. Gong added that the forum offers an important opportunity to help maintain sustainable development for public universities.
Professor David Gosset, a global affairs and international relations expert, gave a speech on the Chinese renaissance and its global impact, saying that China will create its own transformation pattern in its political transition.
The forum, which was first held in 2007, concerns 11 members including NKU, Peking University, the University of Montreal, and the University of Auckland. During last year's meeting, the members decided that NKU would host this year's event, which is expected to further enhance the forum's influence among China's public universities.
