On the afternoon of November 10th, “Water, Core of Science”, the theme exhibition of the “First WUT-AMU Cultural Festival and the Ninth Sino-French Environment Month, was officially opened in the Huasheng Building , the South Lake Campus. Jean-Yves ROUX, new Consul General of France in Wuhan, Wang Fazhou, Vice President of WUT, and Dean of WUT-AMU Institute Maxime FERAILLE, the science and education attachéof the Consulate General of France in Wuhan, and others attended the opening ceremony.

Prior to the opening ceremony, Yang Zongkai, President of WUT, met with Jean-Yves ROUX and his delegation in an amiable manner. Both sides recalled the friendship and cooperation between the mutual governments as well as universities in the process of establishing the first Sino-French cooperative educational institution in Hubei Province, and fully affirmed the positive role of WUT-AMU Institute in promoting talent cultivation, scientific research  people-to-people exchange and so on between Chinese and French universities and research institutions. They jointly expected that they would rely on the prepoderant disciplines of both sides and unceasingly explore the new drive, mode, and level that was pragmatic and coorperative by taking informatization and internationalization as entry point. 

Wang Fazhou addressed the opening ceremony. He extended a warm welcome to Jean-Yves ROUX, the first Consul General of France in Wuhan visiting the new  venue of Institute of WUT-AMU, and introduced the fruitful achievements of WUT in terms of talent cultivation, scientific research, social services, and international cooperation. He expressed his hope that Institute of WUT-AMU would take the opportunity of hosting this exhibition and the First WUT-AMU Cultural Festival to further enhance the effectiveness in the routine operation, promote the exchanges between the youth of France and China and raise the awareness of environmental protection among citizens. He said that environmental protection was a global action that requires public participation, and even a common philosophy that needed to be internalized as well as a firm will that was integrated into the culture. He hoped that all young students would develop the ecological awareness of “prioritizing conservation and protection, publicizing and participating actively”, joining hands to promote the harmonious coexistence between human and nature.

Jean-Yves ROUX denoted that Institute of WUT-AMU was the first Sino-French cooperative educational institution in Hubei province to offer both undergraduate and postgraduate education, therefore French Embassy in China and Consulate General in China would give it continuous attention and long-term support. He hoped that the event would be a chance for higher education institutions and research institutes of both China and France to incessantly expand and deepen the exchanges and cooperation between two countries in areas of common concern to mankind, such as environmental protection, biodiversity, sustainable development and so on.

Combined with the theme picture, namely “Water, Core of Science”, Maxime FERAILLE guided and expounded for the on-site teachers and students. Fenghua Chorus of Institute of WUT-AMU performed a stirring and impassioned show of the song On the Mountain of Taihang, reflecting their vivacious and upbeat spirit .

After the opening ceremony, Mr.Wang Fazhou accompanied guests to visit the exhibition of paintings and calligraphy works created by teachers and students from School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Life Sciences and Institute of WUT-AMU, and the school facilities of WUT-AMU briefly introduced the new strategies, measures and achievements for WUT to improve the institute’s teaching quality through digital empowerment.

More than 50 people attended the opening ceremony, including the directors of the International Office, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, and Institute of WUT-AMU, along with representatives of teachers and students from the School of Resources and Environmental Engineering and Institute of WUT-AMU. Han Tongyuan, the party secretary of School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, officiated at the ceremony.

The Sino-French Environmental Activity Month is the only interdisciplinary communication activity consecutively held by foreign embassies in China in multiple Chinese cities. With the theme of “blue planet”, the 9th Sino-French Environmental Activity Month was held in Central China,by Consulate of France in Wuhan together with WUT, HUST (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City, and other cooperative partners related with the two countries. And it was implemented officially on November 5th, and would last for a month. The theme exhibition “Water, Core of Science” undertaken by WUT consists of 25 photos and a theme promotional video called Origin of Water on Earth ,which mainly introduces the large-scale water resources research projects in France about rivers that flow from Morocco to Bolivia and from Mediterranean Basin to India. This exhibition would be on a continuous display in the middle hall on the first floor, Huasheng Building, the South Lake Campus from Novermber 10th to November 17th.

Reported by: Li Yayu

Rewritten by: Liu Kexi, Mei Mengqi

Edited by: Du Xin, Li Tiantian

Source: Institute of WUT-AMU