Faculty and students earnestly attended Dean Huang's lecture
From June 28 to July 1, 2025, Prof. Huang Guangwei, Dean of the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies of Sophia University in Japan and an internationally renowned expert in environmental studies, visited School of Sociology and Humanities of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, and offered a four-day short-term course on Environmental Social Work for faculty and students.
Vice President Hong Lumin presided over the course
This academic event was chaired by Ms. Hong Lumin, Vice Dean of School of Sociology and Humanities. It attracted nearly 90 participants, including faculty members from the Department of Sociology and the Department of Journalism, as well as postgraduate and undergraduate students majoring in social work. The on-site interaction was lively, and the academic atmosphere was strong.
International Master Imparts Knowledge: Focus on Sustainable Development and Disaster Response
Scene of Dean Huang's lecture
As an authoritative scholar in the field of integrated watershed science and management, Prof. Huang, with his profound academic accumulation and rich international experience, brought an interdisciplinary knowledge feast to teachers and students. The course was centered on four core themes that are at the forefront of international and practical significance. First, “Ecological Civilization and Sustainable Development Goals”. Prof. Huang started from the perspective of “water civilization”, compared and analyzed the wisdom of water resources management of the four major ancient civilizations, and especially explained the modern value of the traditional Chinese concept of “water cycle”. In particular, he explained the modern value of the traditional Chinese concept of “water cycle” and guided students and teachers to think about the significant impact of urbanization on the water cycle. Second, “Japan’s Disaster Emergency Response System and Social Work Intervention”. Through cases such as the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the East Japan Tsunami, he introduced in detail the structure of Japan’s emergency response system, analyzed the professional path of social work in pre-disaster prevention, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, and provided teachers and students with new ideas of disaster response and social work synergy in the international perspective. Third, “Service Learning Enabling Education for Sustainable Development”. By introducing the practice model of “community-campus” linkage among students of Japanese universities, Prof. Huang emphasizing the unique role of service learning in the cultivation of students’ environmental awareness and capacity. Fourth, “Public Participation in Disaster Reduction and Environmental Management”. He shared the innovative mechanism of environmental citizens groups in Japanese watershed management, analyzed the important value and effective ways of public participation in disaster reduction and environmental management, and provided reference for China’s research on grassroots community environmental governance.
Warm Response from Faculty and Students: Sparkling Cross-cultural Thinking
Faculty and students of our school having a lively exchange with Dean Huang
During the class, Prof. Huang used case studies, scenarios and other inspiring teaching methods to guide teachers and students to discuss in depth topics such as “the impact of urbanization on water ecosystems”, “the role of social workers in climate change”, “the role of social workers in disaster prevention and relief” and so on. Teachers and students interacted with Prof. Huang in a warm and orderly classroom atmosphere, thus accomplishing a cross-border knowledge sharing and academic dialogue, expanding our teachers’ and students’ international horizons, and fostering their research perspectives on the academic integration of sociology, social work and environmental studies.
Deepening International Cooperation: Building a Long-term Mechanism for Academic Exchange
Vice President Hong Lumin pointed out at the closing ceremony that this course was an important initiative to implement the Memorandum of Cooperation between our school and Global Environmental Studies of Sophia University, and was an important part of the implementation of the International Talent Joint Cultivation Program for Rural Revitalization of the State Scholarship Council of China by the two schools, which laid a firmer foundation for the in-depth cooperation and exchanges between teachers and students of the two schools in the related fields, and opened up a new chapter for academic exchanges between the two schools in China and Japan. In the future, the two sides will integrate high-quality academic resources, carry out all-round collaboration in the areas of curriculum co-construction, scientific research and talent cultivation, and jointly respond to the challenges of environmental and social governance in the context of globalization.
Expert Profile
Prof. Huang Guangwei, Ph.D. of University of Tokyo, Japan, is currently the Dean of Global Environmental Studies, Sophia University, and a professor of the Joint Educational Program of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies of Japan and the UNESCO Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management. He has a rich academic tenure and his main research area focuses on integrated watershed science and management.
Photo: Hong Lumin
Text: Hong Lumin, Liu Jingzhen
