The 2nd Belt and Road Teenager Maker Camp & Teacher Workshop organized by CYSC-CAST with ECOSF as a Major Cooperator

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The 2^nd “Belt and Road Teenager Maker Camp & Teacher Workshop” was held at No.80 Beijing High School in Beijing – China from 15-21 November 2018. The events were jointly organized by Children & Youth Science Centre (CYSC) of China Association of Science and Technology (CAST), Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) of the People’s Republic of China and supported by ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF), InterAcadmy Partnership Science Education Programme (IAP SEP), Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) and Network of African Science Academies (NASAC). This year, the theme of the event was; "Science Unites, Innovation Decides”. The camp was jointly opened by the leadership of CAST, MoST-China, ECOSF, AETDEW, UNICEF and NASAC through playing the drums (as shown in the picture below).

In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Chen Gang, the Executive Secretary of CAST and Member of the Leading Party Members’ Group of China, welcomed all the distinguished guests, teachers and students around the world. He expressed his great happiness to see such a large attendance from the world in teenager makers camp and teacher workshop as compared to the 1^st camp held last year. He mentioned President Xi’s vision and commitment towards the science technology and science education in China and along the Belt and Road. He assured the support of CAST on behalf of Government of P.R. China for such activities to make the youth a dynamic and energetic leadership of the future. He said that the future lies in the hands of today’s youth and such activities are the right direction to making them true leaders of the future. At the end, he wished the participants great learning during the camp and enjoyment of the stay through food and excursions in Beijing.

President ECOSF Prof. Manzoor H. Soomro in his remarks highly appreciated the CYSC, CAST, MoST China and other international organizations for organizing 2^nd OBOR Teenager Maker Camp and Teacher Workshop as well as the exposure events in Beijing. He further said that ECOSF supported and facilitated 52 participants/officials from six (06) ECO countries which include; Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey. He expressed satisfaction saying that the event was an ideal place and opportunity for all the participants, especially young students from 29 countries along the silk route to share innovative ideas and work together to develop their cognitive abilities to respond to the future challenges faced by the world. Prof. Soomro hoped that the event will foster the networking for shared vision on global peace and hormone through the youth as agents of the change. He further said that the event would promote regional cooperation and cultural understating among the OBOR countries. President ECOSF believed that the partnership between CAST, MoST China, ECOSF and IAP SEP is strategic to promote STI and Science Education along the silk route. He challenged the youth present there to come up with potential innovative ideas that can bring real change in uplifting the living standards and address at least one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for their projects during the course of the Camp. He assured the partners that ECOSF will continue to cooperate and collaborate in the field of STI and promote science education among the young children and students for pursuing common goals along the OBOR.

Dato Lee Yee Cheong, the Chairman of IAP SEP Global Council and Founder President of Academy of Engineering and Technology for the Developing World (AETDEW) also addressed the participants in the opening ceremony. In his remarks, Dato Lee thanked the organizers and partners for continuity of very important programme that began in 201. He further that young children are the future and investing in them is to save the future and make it more bright and prosperous. He pledged the support of AETDEW and IAP SEP to make the initiative of camp and workshop more vibrant and fruitful in future as well.

The opening ceremony was also graced by the Principal of the hosting school, who shared the history of the school and said that the No.80 High School of Beijing  founded in 1956, in Chaoyang District, Beijing and it is the beacon high school of the district. It has more than 3000 high school students, making it one of the largest high school campuses in Beijing. A majority of its high school students are boarding students including those from abroad. The school is divided into two campuses, the Junior and the Senior High Schools. Foreign students also study in the International Department.

The opening ceremony was also attended by the Ambassador/officials from participating countries and other officials from CYSC/CAST and UNICEF.

There were 219 students/teenagers and teachers/officials from 29 countries including six ECO countries. President ECOSF and Assistant Director & Coordinator (Programmes) represented the ECOSF. This year, a high increase was seen in number of participating countries with a total of 350 attendees. The number of participants from ECO countries was 52; the breakdown is given below:

The management of CYSC and the School beautifully organized various activities separately for the students, teachers and officials during the whole event. A welcome Banquet with culture in focus was arranged on the first night of the Camp; wherein, the students performed their cultural dances and sang the folklore attired in very beautiful traditional clothing.

On the first day of the Camp, the students were assigned different scientific tasks in the field of robotics, laser cutting, 3D printing, chemistry, costume designing, etc. Thereafter, the students completed their tasks through preparing very innovative models. All the materials required for the experiments were provided by CYSC. Later on, those models were presented to the jury of teachers for final results to award the medals. In a grandiose awarding ceremony, the medals were given in three categories i.e., team work, best presentation and best makers.

A campus tour was also arranged for all the participants. The facilities of the school were well praised by the visitors. The teachers and officials were taken to visit the China Science and Technology Museum on 3^rd Day of the Camp. In the museum, the old scientific techniques such as pulling the water, digging, transportation etc. and the latest technologies such as space, robotics have been established for the visitors which an amazing experience for the visitors. The participants also participated in a wonderful astronomy night and experienced the astronomy with state of the art technology through a virtual tour.

During the camp, the “Belt and Road International Science Education Coordinating Committee (BRISECC)” was also constituted and its inaugural meeting was held on 16 November 2018; whereby the President and four Vice Presidents were elected and objectives of the committee were discussed and agreed upon. President ECOSF is among the elected Vice Presidents.

Belt and Road Forum on Science Education was also held on 17 November 2018 during the Camp. The theme of the Forum was “Science Education for all” and purpose of the Forum was to share experiences, resources, promote mutual learning and fulfill the responsibilities. The educationists and policy makers from countries along the belt and road attended the Forum. A detailed report of the event has also been prepared separately.

A visit to the Institute of Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences was also arranged for the participants; they were briefed about the history of the Institute, its contribution towards the defence and modern development of China ever since its establishment in 1950s. Different laboratories equipped with cutting edge technologies were also visited.

For the know-how of the history and culture of China, a visit to historical places such as Temple of Heaven and Great Wall of China was arranged for the all the participants including students. The participants highly enjoyed the visit of one of the wonders of the world i.e., Great Wall of China and the temple.

Following are some glimpses of the camp/workshop:

The outcome of the camp was very encouraging as students seemed very happy and interacted/networked with other fellows from 29 different countries of the world, which would greatly impact upon their personalities and confidence to become the leaders of tomorrow.