Current and past engagement projects
Engagement with Taiyuan University of Science and Technology and the Taiyuan Government.
As a result of building a professional relationship with Professor Honglei Shi of Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (she has been a visiting scholar with me from sept 2017 to July, 2018); we have managed to construct a programme for further knowledge exchange and co-operation.
With Professor Shi's help, I am currently organising a delegation to Taiyuan – I am leading the Newcastle delegation as a leader of the GURU theme group, Identities, Culture and heritage; specifically, we will go to Taiyuan in September, 2019; we shall meet the government and equip the government with information regarding the conservation and management of built heritage sites.
Programme Co-ordinators: Dr Andy Law/Professor Honglei Shi
Engagement with the Chinese People's association for friendship with foreign countries
on the 13th of July, 2018, I gave a talk to the group entitled: ‘The Faculty Asian Studies Research Group’. The CPAFFC is a national Chinese Government body, something akin to the British Council. Their role is to foster, facilitate and sponsor exchanges and engagement with foreign countries, and specifically between non-governmental bodies (although including between local governments) which includes universities; in giving this talk I sought to give the CPAFFC a good understanding of what happens in faculty.
Tianjin urban planning and design institute (tupdi), Tianjin China.
On the 28th of June, 2018, I gave a lecture entitled: ‘How do we plan for the creative economy in urban areas?’ for Tianjin Planning and Urban Design Professionals, as part of a Continuous Professional Development course entitled: Planning for the Creative Economy in Urban Areas; The Core, Newcastle University, 25-29 June 2018; the course was designed and co-ordinated by Dr Xuefeng Wang, as a member of The Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), Newcastle University, UK.
Confucius institute, Newcastle and Xiamen
In the last few years, I have conducted several engagement related activities with the Newcastle-Xiamen Confucius institute; as a result in early 2017 I received money from the Confucius institute at Newcastle to fund an academic conference on the Yangtze River; the conference which took place between the 4-6th of December 2017 – was entitled:
‘Risks to life, heritage, and community on the Yangtze River’ which will be held between the 4-6th of December, 2017.
Kite Zhang's Kite's
From July, 2013 to the present I have had a minor role in helping a Chinese-Australian Film maker Nathan Yun with his new movie "Kite Zhang's Kites" (Intangible heritage). I have helped him to check the translation of the film into English via English subtitles. The movie is an 85 minute documentary of a Chinese kinetic kite maker who currently resides in the city of Xi’an.