In order to further promote the International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology under the Auspices of UNESCO (IKCEST)  and the knowledge of urban planning, IKCEST and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University jointly held the training programme 2019 International Training Workshop for Innovative Training on Smart City and Big Data in Urban Planning  in Shanghai from October 23 to October 27, 2019.
The Member of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and Vice President of Tongji University, Prof. Wu Zhiqiang, attended the opening ceremony and delivered an opening remark. The workshop attracted 24 trainees from more than 17 countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, United States, comprising of 15 men and 9 women.

Group photo of workshop opening

Professor Wu said that cities are faced with three big challenges: “the conflict between city and nature , the conflict between multiple systems, and the conflict between historical heritage and its future development . Since 2014, Professor Wu has led a team to identify the characteristics of global cities through artificial intelligence and developed City Tree for the study of the cities all over the world. He hoped that the students make joint efforts to promote the development of smart cities with the advancement and innovation of the cutting-edge technologies.
After the opening ceremony, the trainees introduced themselves one by one, which increased their understanding of each other and laid a good foundation for the smooth progress of the following courses.
The programme attracted a large number of applicants from many countries and a total of 24 students were on the shortlist for training. The programme combined class teaching, group discussion and field visit. It was a big success and was highly praised by the participants not only because of the efficient organization and management but also the fact that the world’s top scholars and experts were invited as lecturers and judges for the programme, and the teaching assistants were also very qualified and dedicated.

Self introduction by trainees

IKCEST is a category II centre under theauspices of UNESCO. IKCEST was established on June 2, 2014. The Chinese Academyof Engineering is responsible for the operation and management of the IKCEST. IKCEST aims at providing knowledge-based services at a global scale in the formof consultation, scientific research and education for policy-makers andengineering science and technology professionals in the world, with particularreference to the developing countries.