Summer Schools & Courses

01 Group Study

After a full day of rest on Day 5, the camp participants were energized and started the new stage of study with full vitality. On July 23, the students arrived early at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University, to begin work on calculating the city-level Human Development Index (HDI).

Enthusiastic Group Activities

02 Professors Corner

Pang Jiahua is currently a member of the Academic Division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, president of the Institute of Urban Development and Environment, and director of the Sustainable Development Research Center. He previously served as a senior program officer and energy and environment adviser at the UNDP Beijing Office, and as a senior economist with the social and economic assessment working group of the United Nations climate change panel in the Netherlands. His main research areas include sustainable development economics, land and resource economics, world economics, and energy and climate policy.

Professor Pang gave a talk titled The Background, Process, and Vision of the Global Energy Transition, with a focus on the evolution of the global economic landscape. He explained in particular the concepts of the two camps, three major blocs, and five types of economies, all first proposed by Professor Pang. In response to a student question about what role climate change plays in the Sino-US trade war, Professor Pang first pointed out that the trade war is only a symptom, not the root cause. The root cause lies in the struggle between two systems, two development paths, and two ideologies. China can use climate change as a point of connection for Sino-US relations, and at the same time teach through principles, stand on the moral high ground, and achieve development.

Xiong Wei, from the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, focuses on developing integrated models for climate change impacts and assessing climate change effects on agriculture. He has published a paper in Nature Plants evaluating the impact of climate change on global barley yield and the beer market. Today he gave a talk titled The Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison (GGCMI): Past, Current and Future. Professor Xiong introduced the issues facing agricultural development under contemporary global climate change and also shared a number of interesting research findings, such as the idea that eating wheat may make people more likely to gain weight and become less intelligent, which drew laughter from the students and left a strong impression.

03 Water Gun Battle!

In the heat of summer, nothing is more refreshing than a water fight. This afternoon, the students finally got the water gun battle they had been waiting for. Water fights are said to be an annual must-have activity at the summer camp. With water guns won from earlier games, plus their own buckets and water balloons, who would be the VIP of the whole field?

The sixth day of the summer camp was full and fun. Through close group study cooperation and the water gun battle, the team spirit was strengthened. Who knows what sparks will fly next?