In order to promote exchange and cooperation with advanced international educational scientific research institutes in the fields of discipline and major construction, talent training, and academic research in the Open University of China (OUC), expand the international influence of discipline development, and increase opportunities for international cooperation in school running, the OUC has created opportunities to encourage teachers to actively participate in global professional disciplinary conferences since 2018.
From 3rd to 7th July 2018, the OUC sent a team of five people led by vice president Yang Xiaotang to attend the "World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development (SWSD) 2018 " held in Dublin. 2,163 representatives from 99 countries on six continents attended the conference.
The theme of SWSD 2018 is "Environmental and Community Sustainability: Human Solutions in Evolving Societies." During the four-day conference, the participants listened to keynote speeches, attended parallel forums, and visited social service organisations. They also joined exchanges and discussions on more than 15 sub-topics, including Linking Environmental and Sustainable Development; The Role of Social Workers in Fulfilling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals; Income, Wellbeing, Employment, and Poverty; Relationship-based Practice: Promoting the Importance of Human Relationships; Evidence Informed Interventions; Strengthening Education to Meet the Needs of Communities; Identity, Discrimination, and Social Exclusion; Community Development and Social Enterprise; Health, Mental Health, and Disability; Conflict, Violence, Migration, and Human Trafficking; Engagement with People Who Use Services; Rights of Families and Children; Life Span Perspectives and Issues; Ensuring the Sustainable and Ethical Use of Technology in Human Services; and Women’s Issues. The participants also discussed the major challenges and trends in the development of social work in the world today.
The conference’s keynote speaker elaborated on the important role of social work development and the promotion of community participation in solving the major challenges facing international society and the realisation of the UN’s sustainable development goals from the perspective of achieving social equity and justice. Former President of Ireland (1990-1997) and UN High Commissioner for human rights (1997-2002), Mary Robinson, gave a keynote speech on The Importance of Community Involvement in Working for Climate Justice.
The OUC launched a social work major as early as in 2005, with the aim of meeting the great demand for social work professionals in the process of social construction and social governance in China. In order to better fulfil its social responsibilities, in November 2013, the OUC cooperated with the China Association of Social Workers (CASW) and established the OUC Social Work College, taking advantage of the OUC’s advanced information technology platform and the advantages of CASW and put into play the basic role of the "Credit Bank,” striving to build the OUC’s Social Work College as a base for the training of modern social workers in China and a theoretical research base for social work with Chinese characteristics. By taking part in the world conference, the OUC has strengthened communication and dialogues in educational and industrial circles relating to international social work and gained a preliminary understanding of the work and priorities of international social workers, which will act as a reference point for further clarifying the development direction of majors and defining the breakthrough points for serving communities and society.
During SWSD 2018, the delegation also visited Dublin City University (DCU) and held discussions with the National Institute of Digital Learning affiliated to DCU. DCU is an international university specialising in research and innovation. DCU currently has more than 17,000 on-campus students, including more than 3,000 international students from 110 countries. The National Institute of Digital Learning is dedicated to the development and production of the university’s online courses, leading the development of open distance education in Ireland. The organisation will host the 2019 annual meeting of the World Open and Distance Education Council. The two sides shared their recent digital and media resource developments and discussed how to further explore cooperation in the field of promoting Chinese and Irish Language Teaching. Discussions were also held between the two sides around cooperation in establishing an online Confucius Institute.
By Huang Qiao and Hou Songyan,OUC