On August 1, the opening ceremony of 2019 "Urban Underground Space Development Frontier" International Summer School of Shandong University was held in Qianfoshan Campus, which was initiated by the School of Qilu Transportation and co-organized by the School of Civil Engineering, the Associated Research Centers for the Urban Underground Space (ACUUS) Youth Group (Asia) and Young Earth Scientists (YES)-Network. Twenty-six excellent students from more than 20 institutions of higher education at home and abroad gathered together at Shandong University.

Mr. Jacques Besner, founder of the ACUUS, Prof. Li Xiaozhao, director of the Institute for Underground Space and Geo-environment at Nanjing University and Prof. Liu Jian, secretary of the School of Qilu Transportation attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. Professor Xu Zhenhao from the School of Qilu Transportation presided over the event.

First, Professor Xu Zhenhao gave a brief introduction to the International Summer School. Professor Liu Jian pointed out that since its establishment, the School of Qilu Transportation has attached great importance to academic exchanges and international cooperation, and continuously explore and research on the urban underground space based on the objectives of "quality, internationalization, innovation and openness". He hoped that students could consolidate their knowledge and harvest friendship in the process of learning and communicating.

Afterwards, Mr. Jacques Besner delivered a welcome speech andintroduced to the students the current situation of underground space development and utilization from the perspective of urban planning. He hoped that students could broaden their horizons, improve their intercultural communication ability, and cultivate their international competitiveness and innovation ability through this activity.

Prof. Li Xiaozhao gave a speech, pointing out that under the background of the continuous development of urbanization, rational development and utilization of underground space resources is of far-reaching significance. At the same time, he held that an open and cooperative attitude towards the development and utilization of underground space shall be maintained for the long-term progress in this field.

Liu Shixuan from Tsinghua University (Taiwan), speaking as a student representative, hoped to consolidate the theoretical basis, broaden the international horizon, stimulate innovative thinking and inspire scientific research wisdom through this summer school.

Finally, Mr. Jacques Besner and Prof. Li Xiaozhao consecutively gave lectures around the theme of "Urban Underground Space Development Frontier".

Dozens of experts and scholars from ACUUS Secretariat, YES-Network, Nanjing University, National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan), Southeast University, Beijing University of Technology, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, heads of relevant departments, students and volunteersfrom International Summer School attended the opening ceremony.

On the afternoon of August 2, teachers and students visited the Jinan Planning Exhibition Hall. Mr. Jacques Besner and Dr. Li Huanqing encouraged students to study the disciplinary knowledge seriously, develop academic creativity and enhance the interest in exploring urban underground space. Afterwards, the students spoke freely around future development prospects of urban underground space and interacted with teachers.

On the afternoon of August 3, they went to Quancheng Square and conducted a questionnaire survey on the underground construction facilities of Quancheng Square.

Since the establishment of the International Summer School, Shandong University has always adhered to the principle of "introducing noted overseas teachers, insisting on opening and sharing, pursuing academic frontiers, cultivating innovative ability and improving special skills", attaching equal importance to theory and practice, and combining innovation and inheritance. Great efforts have been made to build it into the pioneer and experimental area of "deepening the reform of education and teaching, exploring the open school-running and collaborative education".

Source: the School of Qilu Transportation

Written by: Dong Xiaoyan

Photo by: Xu Guanglu, Wang Zhaoyang

Edited by: Xie Tingting