The 2022 “National Environmental Summer Camp for Excellent Middle School Students” (hereinafter referred to as “Environmental Summer Camp”) was successfully held in Suzhou from August 15 to 18. The camp was co-sponsored by the School of Environment of Tsinghua University and the Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua (RIET). It aims to strengthen middle school students’ understanding of the concept of ecological civilization, enhance their innovative thinking and practical abilities, and provide a platform and window for them to understand the environmental discipline and career. The summer camp, lasting four days (including the evening activities on the registration day), organized a total of 15 wonderful activities, including six frontier lectures, three small-group in-depth exchanges, three practical explorations, “The Great Learning” movie watching and growth experiences sharing. Campers participated in enriching learning, in-depth discussions, and intense debates. The summer camp enabled students to systematically understand the historical evolution and existing challenges of environmental issues, as well as the development prospects of the environmental disciplines, broadening their professional horizons and strengthening their sense of mission and responsibility for environmental protection.
On August 15, campers from all over the country registered and received activity materials and epidemic prevention supplies. Li Miao, the head of the Environmental Summer Camp, introduced the schedule and precautions of the camp, and emphasized the requirements for epidemic prevention and safety regulations.
Campers listening the requirements for epidemic prevention and safety regulations
Afterward, the students watched the movie “The Great Learning” together, which allowed them to initially experience Tsinghua University’s academic atmosphere of “the cultivation of one’s inner character and spiritual realm comes first, followed by learning and knowledge,” and sparked their strong interest in university learning and life.
Students watching the movie
On the morning of August 16, the opening ceremony of the Environmental Summer Camp was successfully held, presided over by Yue Dongbei, the Deputy Dean of the School of Environment. At the opening ceremony, speeches were given respectively by Qian Yi, academician of the School of Environment, Chen Qixin, Director of the Undergraduate Admissions Office of Tsinghua University, Zhao Hong, Deputy Director of Suzhou New District Management Committee, Liu Yi, Dean of the School of Environment, and Huang Guan, representative of the Environmental Summer Camp counselors. They wished the Environmental Summer Camp a success and hoped that the campers would learn and grow during the camp. Dong Lihu, Deputy Dean of RIET, and teachers Li Miao, Wu Qingru, Ji Qinghua, and Meng Fanlin from the School of Environment attended the opening ceremony.
Opening Ceremony Site
Chen Qixin said that this summer camp was the first discipline-based summer camp at Tsinghua University and the environmental disciplines are increasingly important in today’s society. He hoped that the summer camp could broaden the horizons of excellent middle school students in environmental disciplines. Chen wished the camp a complete success, and welcomed the students to apply for Tsinghua University. “I’ll be waiting for you at Tsinghua!” said Chen.
Chen Qixin giving his speech
Zhao Hong pointed out in her speech that Suzhou New District adheres to the strategy of the strategies of reinvigorating the district through science and education and strengthening the district through human resource development. The summer camp provided a platform for middle school students to broaden their horizons and cultivate their abilities, contributing to the cultivation of a new generation of environmentalists for the country. She hoped that the summer camp would inspire students’ interest in the environmental disciplines and motivate them to actively participate in national development in the future.
Zhao Hong giving her speech
Liu Yi started from his childhood and shared his unwavering choice of environmental discipline, his in-depth research in the field of environment, and his understanding of environmental discipline. He explained to the students the extensive application and importance of environmental disciplines in human production and life in an easy-to-understand manner, and wished that the students could gain a deeper understanding of the environmental field and more personal growth through participating in this summer camp.
Liu Yi giving his speech
Qian Yi emphasized that solving environmental issues is a very complex system engineering task, which requires the integration of various sciences and methods for effective governance. Therefore, it is more necessary to cultivate specialized talents. She recounted her own study experiences as a young student and the development of the School of Environment over the past decades. She encouraged students to further explore in their future lives and make their own contributions to the cause of national ecological environment protection.
Qian Yi giving her speech
Huang Guan welcomed the students and shared her four years of undergraduate study and life at the School of Environment. At the same time, as a counselor, she would progress and grow together with the students during the summer camp, and wished that the students could gain something from the camp.
Huang Guan giving her speech
Afterward, the students played ice-breaking games in small groups, during which students from all over the country got to know each other better and established friendships.
Students participating in ice-breaking activities
On the afternoon of August 16, the students attended frontier lectures on environmental disciplines. The lectures were given by Academician He Kebin, Professor Chen Lvjun, Professor Liu Jianguo, and Professor Xu Ming from the School of Environment. In these lectures, the teachers shared the main research directions of the environmental disciplines and frontier knowledge in the field, enhancing students’ understanding of environmental disciplines and inspiring their interest in scientific and technological research.
Professor Chen Lvjun introducing Environment and Development; Professor Liu Jianguo introducing Zero-waste Society; Professor Xu Ming introducing Environment and Economy; Academician He Kebin introducing Dual Carbon Actions
Students attentively listening to the lectures
In the evening, the students used the content and knowledge they learned in the lectures and consulted relevant materials to conduct brilliant debates on three environmental topics. They conducted in-depth discussions on each topic, and actively tried to view environmental issues from a more diverse and objective perspective.
Students participating in the debate
On the morning of August 17, under the guidance of the teachers, the students visited the Jinshu Port water source area, the simple hometown of Taihu Lake. Through the visit and explanation, the students initially understood the classification standard of surface water quality in China and the development status of water source protection areas.
Students visiting Jinshu Port water source area
Subsequently, the students visited the Caishihu Lake Park. While enjoying the beautiful natural scenery of Caishihu Lake, the students learned about the history of the Lake transforming from a poor-quality water body into a high-quality natural park known as “Little Jiuzhaigou” (a nature reserve and national park located in the north of Sichuan Province in southwestern China; a World Heritage Site and a World Biosphere Reserve) in Suzhou through instructor’s explanation. During this process, they initially learned about the knowledge of ecological environment restoration technology.
Students visiting Caishihu Lake Park
At noon, engineers Zhou Yu and Liu Na from the Environmental Big Data Science Center introduced and demonstrated the Application Platform of Environmental Big Data Mining in Suzhou New District for the students, explaining the extensive application of artificial intelligence + big data in environmental law enforcement and comprehensive governance.
Teachers presenting the Suzhou New District Environmental Big Data Mining Application Platform to students
In the afternoon, under the guidance and explanation of the teachers, the students personally carried out experiments to identify the pollution source. In the experiments, the students learned basic experimental operations, used experimental instruments, and integrated the knowledge they learned during the morning visit to carry out coagulation and pollutant tracing operations on water samples.
Students conducting experiments under the guidance of teachers
Subsequently, Researcher Wang Kaijun from the School of Environment shared with the students the development of China’s environmental protection industry and technology innovation of enterprises. In the lecture, he also took some enterprises and countries as examples to further elaborate, deepening students’ understanding of the development and technological innovation of China’s environmental protection industry.
Wang Kaijun introducing t the development of China’s environmental protection industry and technology innovation of enterprises
Afterwards, the counselors shared their study and life experiences in groups, introduced the college life and research directions to the students, painting a complete picture of studying in the environmental field.
Counselors sharing their experiences
In the evening, Yue Dongbei and Wang Dongbin shared their growth experiences with the students, which allowed the students to futher understand the teachers, and inspired them to set lofty ideals, actively face difficulties and challenge themselves.
Teachers sharing their experiences
On the morning of August 18, Yue Dongbei introduced the profile of Tsinghua University’s environmental disciplines to the students.
Yue Dongbei presenting the overview of Tsinghua University’s environmental disciplines
Afterwards, Yue Dongbei hosted the closing ceremony of Tsinghua University2022 “National Environmental Summer Camp for Excellent Middle School Students.” He congratulated all the campers on their successful completion and hoped to meet the students again in the near future. At the ceremony, Yue announced the list of excellent campers and awarded honorary certificates to them.
Awarding certificates to excellent campers
Group photo of excellent campers
This summer camp strictly adhered to epidemic prevention policy requirements, and the students orderly underwent Nucleic Acid Amplification Test. Thanks to the strong support and guarantees provided by the local government!
Thus, the 2022 Tsinghua University “National Environmental Summer Camp for Excellent Middle School Students” came to a successful conclusion! Through four days of practice and exploration, the participating campers deepened their understanding of environmental disciplines, stimulated their interest in the environmental field, and strengthened their determination to strive in their future lives. They began to closely link their own future with the national development, and make a contribution to the development of the country’s environmental cause!
