Festival highlights university's commitment to green future

Crowds of curious, excited students from the Beijing Forestry University (BFU) bustled at its Ginko Avenue on June 11 to celebrate the school's second International Culture Festival.

International students from countries including Madagascar, Ethiopia and DPR Korea, kicked off the festival with their traditional song and dance. People buzzed in front of various stalls, manned by foreign students each representing their country, eager to learn about different cultures, sample exotic snacks, and shop for souvenirs.

Aside from celebrating the school's diverse groups and cultures, the festival, themed "Green Illuminates the World, Harmony Unites Us All", highlighted the university's commitment to building a green, sustainable future and mobilizing youths to achieve global sustainability.

During the opening, the university announced the establishment of the "Echo Earth" Lecture Group within its International College, comprising PhD and master's students from diverse cultural backgrounds.

"'Echo Earth' symbolizes the resonance of Earth's ecosystems and human civilizations. This group will promote ecological values through lectures to create a global network for sustainable solutions," said Wang Jin, dean of the university's International College.

Bizhar Titab, a PhD student from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, is a member of the lecture group.

"This role aligns with my belief that scientists should actively communicate knowledge to the public. My responsibility is to translate complex ecological concepts into accessible insights, inspiring others to protect our planet. It's a chance for me to bridge academia and societal action, which I find both exciting and humbling," he told the China Daily website.

On the evening of June 11, Titab and four fellow students from Russia, Japan, Bangladesh and Morocco, presented their first lecture at the university together with members from the Green Pioneers Doctoral Students' Lecturer League and Eco-Art Advocates, two other active ecology promotion groups at BFU.

The young lecturers shared multidimensional practices of ecological civilization, covering a wide range of topics, such as the transition to a green economy, species conservation efforts, wetland ecology science education, the challenges of plastic pollution, and international cooperation in green development.

The launch of the "Echo Earth" Lecture Group, the international part of the BFU Eco-Civilization Doctoral Students' Lecturer League, speaks volumes about the university's long-standing commitment to promoting environmental awareness and building China's ecological civilization, according to the organizers.

Founded in 2012, the award-winning BFU Eco-Civilization Doctoral Students' Lecturer League has organized more than 800 public lectures across the country. Led by approximately 300 PhD students, particularly those specializing in forestry, landscape architecture, and soil and water conservation, these lectures have been held in primary and secondary schools, universities, communities and companies.

"As an international member, I hope to contribute a global perspective to the group by sharing examples of environmental challenges and solutions from my home country while learning from China's ecological initiatives such as the Green Wall project," Titab said, adding that he would love to organize multilingual outreach activities to engage more international students in ecological advocacy.