On the morning of December 11, Prof. Alfred Pitterle, an Austrian ecologist from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (also called “BOKU”) and the 2008 Chinese Government Friendship Award winner visited our university. Xu Zhonglin, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of Xinyu University, attended the symposium, which was presided over by Liu Liheng, member of the Party Committee and vice president.

  At the symposium, Xu Zhonglin first extended a warm welcome to Prof. Pitterle and his entourage, and emphasized that Professor Pitterle, as an internationally renowned scholar with a high reputation in the field of ecology, not only leads the frontier of the discipline with his profound academic attainments, but also practices the spirit of promoting international friendship and cooperation with practical actions, especially the Jiangxi zero-waste city sustainable development project team that he personally advocated and established, which has contributed valuable wisdom and strength to the construction of ecological civilization in our province. Xu Zhonglin expressed his heartfelt respect for Professor Pitterle's unremitting efforts and outstanding contributions to promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and Austria in the fields of science and technology, education and other fields.

  Xu Zhonglin introduced in detail the measures and achievements of Xinyu University in recent years to adhere to open education and actively integrate into the global education system. He expressed his ardent hope that through the bridge of Prof. Pitterle, he would further strengthen the in-depth cooperation with Austrian polytechnic universities in academic research, talent training, cultural exchanges, etc., and jointly explore a new model of international cooperation in higher education, so as to inject new vitality and impetus into the construction of Xinyu University as a high-level application-orientated undergraduate university.

  Prof. Pitterle expressed his sincere gratitude to President Xu Zhonglin for his warm reception and high praise, and highly appreciated the open and inclusive educational philosophy and remarkable achievements of Xinyu University. He shared his views on promoting China-Austria cooperation in education, science and technology, and promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the people of both countries, and expressed his willingness to continue to play the role of a bridge and contribute to the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two universities and even between the two countries.

  In addition, the two sides also had preliminary discussions on matters related to the upcoming art exhibition on the World Environment Day, and agreed to carry out more in-depth planning and discussion on this topic in the future. This visit not only deepened the foundation of friendship and cooperation between the two universities, but also opened up a broader space and possibilities for future cooperation between the two sides in various fields.