Introduction
The Linköping University - Guangzhou University Research Center on Urban Sustainable Development is a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary platform for international exchange and research jointly established by Guangzhou University and Linköping University.
Since Linköping city and Guangzhou city became international sister cities in 1997, the friendship between the two cities have been developed rapidly and the exchanges between the two universities have been deepened. In March 2014, Guangzhou University launched the Sustainable Development Cooperation Initiative based on its sister city cooperation framework. On November 27th 2014, the two universities signed an agreement to jointly establish the "Linköping University- Guangzhou University Research Center" witnessed by Chen Jianhua, the former Mayor of Guangzhou, and Paul Lindvall, the former Mayor of Linköping. Guangzhou University then established a preparatory working task force for the Research Center, and decided to establish the "Linköping University - Guangzhou University Research Center" at the 5th Standing Committee meeting of University Party Committee in June 2016. On the December 7th, 2016, Wen Guohui, Mayor of Guangzhou City, Wei Minghai, President of Guangzhou University, Helena Balthammar, Mayor of Linköping City, and Peter Värbrand, Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University jointly establish the Linköping University - Guangzhou University Research Center. As one of the important achievements between the two sister-cities, the Center has witnessed deeper exchanges on science and technology between the two cities. On September 1 2017, witnessed by Wang Dong, Vice-Mayor of Guangzhou and Helena Balthammar, Mayor of Linköping, the LiU Oversea Office of the Center was established in Linköping by Helen Dannetun, Chancellor of Linköping University and Guo Xingpeng, Vice President of Guangzhou University. On October 31, 2020, Wen Guohui, Mayor of Guangzhou City, met with Lars Vikinge, Mayor of Linköping City, to attend the ceremony of renewing the MOU between Guangzhou University and Linköping University. Cooperation between two universities will be further promoted in a wider field and at a deeper level.
Organization
There are five full-time researchers in the Center which include Professor Hongguo Zhang from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering who is also the Chinese Executive Director of the Center, Dr. Yuxian Liu, Dr. Lechang Wei, Dr. Yu Liu and Dr. Jinfeng Tang who have been introduced from Japan, Russia and Sweden respectively. At the same time, several scholars from Linköping University and Guangzhou University have acted as part-time researchers in the Center. To better work on developing a “high-level university”, the Center is currently divided into the following four functional parts:
International Affairs
The Center has been committed to establishing cooperation between Guangzhou City and Linköping City as well as Guangzhou University and Linköping University. The Center has set an example for cooperation between sister cities and is an important platform for communication between Guangzhou University and Linköping University as well as between Guangzhou city and Linköping city. Besides deepening cooperation with Linköping University, the Center also initiated a lot of scientific and technological projects on sustainability with other internationally renowned universities to include Chalmers University of Technology, Moscow State University, Oxford University and Georgia University of Technology.
Research
Focusing on sustainable development of the city, the Center will promote substantive international cooperation between the two universities to achieve high-level research outcome, improve the international reputation of Guangzhou University and train young scholars. The main research fields of the Center are: (1) Urban mining; (2) Urban water security and sustainable development; (3) Modern technology and urban sustainable development. Staff of the Center has undertaken five national research projects, one provincial research project and one municipal scientific project, with a total funding of 4.65 million yuan. In 2018, 34 scientific research papers were published by full-time researchers of the Center as first author or corresponding author.
Social Services
The Center is based in Guangzhou University and serves the development needs of Guangzhou city. Based on substantial scientific research cooperation, the Center continues to build a sustainable development platform for Guangzhou University and Linköping University. While actively carrying out research projects, the Center will rely on international cooperation projects to build platforms for relevant enterprises and associations in Guangzhou and Linköping to further contact with enterprises, increase output, promote the development of teaching and research, consolidate the cooperation with enterprises, and establish a new international production, teaching and research model in our university. The Center actively communicates with relevant functional departments of Guangzhou to include the Guangzhou Environmental Protection Investment Group, Tropical Forestry Research Institute of Chinese Academy of forestry, Guangzhou Urban Management Technology Center and other Guangzhou enterprises and institutions and carry out various forms of cooperation. The Center keeps closer contact with enterprises, promotes cooperation among industrial, university, and research, consolidates the cooperation relationship with enterprises, and enables the new international industrial, university, and research mode to take root in the university.
Internal Affairs
This functional part is mainly responsible for the internal affairs of the Center to include the activities of the International Office and other schools to include the environmental science and Engineering of the university. It implement the rules of the university to ensure that the Center's daily and scientific research affairs work in an orderly manner.
Chinese