The fifth China-France-Africa Forum on Higher Education was held in Wuhan

The BRISMIS 2023 International Symposium on the Development of popular science Venues along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRISMIS 2023), sponsored by the Society of Natural Science Museums of China and hosted by the China Science and Technology Museum, opened in Beijing on Wednesday.

Nearly 50 representatives from many international organizations such as UNESCO, the Special Committee of Science and Technology Museums of the International Association of Museums, the Office of Astronomy Education of the International Astronomical Union and more than 20 national science popularization venues and institutions, as well as more than 240 representatives from various science popularization venues, institutions and enterprises in China gathered at the China Science and Technology Museum. Around the theme of "Better Life through STEM Education in Science Venues",

We discussed the new concepts, new ideas and new measures of STEM education in the post-COVID-19 era, as well as the new missions, new responsibilities and new actions of science education venues as important partners of UNESCO in addressing global challenges and promoting the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

At the opening ceremony, "Together for the Future" - the Chinese Society of Natural Science Museums and UNESCO reaffirmed their commitment to the bilateral cooperation agreement was held.

In June 2018, with a shared mission and vision, the two organizations signed a five-year cooperation agreement that identified four areas of cooperation, with a focus on supporting the biennial BRISMIS Workshop. It will also serve as an important platform for international cooperation and exchange and mutual sharing of resources among UNESCO member States, especially among the popular science venues in countries jointly building the "Belt and Road".

Over the past five years, under the framework of the Agreement, the two sides have cooperated sincerely, given full play to the role and advantages of the BRISMIS platform, successfully organized and implemented a number of cooperation projects, and made positive contributions to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" Initiative and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. On the basis of fruitful cooperation results and real benefits in the past five years, the two sides are pleased to renew the cooperation agreement in May this year, opening a new chapter of cooperation in the next five years.

BRISMIS Workshop was started in 2017, since the first, has successfully held three seminars, attracted more than 40 countries and nearly 800 representatives of science venues around the world.

Around the theme of the conference, BRISMIS 2023 has set up three special forums, which are "New Measures to Promote the equalization and resource sharing of STEM education in popular science Venues by digital Technology", "New ideas for the construction of popular science Venues under the concept of STEM Education" and "New Thoughts on Promoting the integration and Development of STEM education and cultural education in popular science Venues". Through special reports, high-level dialogues and other forms, curators or experts of "Belt and Road" science popularization venues will be invited to focus on the construction of science popularization venues under the STEM education concept in the post-epidemic era.

STEM education promotes the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the co-construction and sharing of resources of science popularization venues of the "Belt and Road", and conducts in-depth exchanges and discussions to learn from each other. By setting up rich professional visit content, we will organize Chinese and foreign delegates to visit the China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing Planetarium, China Railway Museum, National Zoological Museum and other science popularization venues and resources, and promote exchanges and cooperation between different types of science popularization venues.

In order to expand the communication channels and enrich the content of the conference, BRISMIS 2023 has set up two pre-conference partner workshops. One is to cooperate with ICOM-CIMUSET and China Science and Technology Museum to organize a workshop on the theme of "Science Education and Better Life in Science and Technology Museums".

Combine the latest theory and practice of science and technology museum development with the construction and development of the venue to provide high-quality learning and exchange opportunities for practitioners;

The second is to cooperate with the International Astronomical Union Office for Astronomy Education (IAU-OAE) China Center and Beijing Planetarium to organize a workshop on the theme of "Planetarium exploration and practice in STEM education" to review the centennial history of planetarium and astronomical education. Through the holding of two partner workshops, the cooperation and exchange of international science popularization venues in the field of science and technology museum and planetarium have been continuously strengthened.