Shanghai Daily Fudan University students win UN lifelong learning award

A group of Fudan University students were honored last month for their work on a proposal to the United Nations to build a regional cooperation framework in East Asia to help realize a lifelong learning community.

The proposal, put forward by the Fudan undergraduate international relations and management majors, won first prize at the 2008 Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance, an event held in Rome and involving university students from around the world.

The proposal was submitted to the UN Development Program after the competition and will also be published.

The students said the emergence of the knowledge economy has brought about the new concept of lifelong learning, which is regarded as a potential element to enable individuals, groups, nations and regions to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive world and diversified living conditions.

To make the idea a reality, it is considered more effective to build lifelong learning communities at the regional level. This way all member countries in the region could both contribute to, and benefit from, the community.

The proposed community should be launched by universities and enterprises in support of governments in East Asia, and working with the media, the students said.

Core courses would be transnational or cross-field courses with a technological basis such as Internet visual and video meeting systems and interactive e-learning systems, which enable students, workers and professionals in different universities, countries and fields, to attend one class simultaneously.

Students may use resources such as libraries, laboratories and classes of member universities and institutes even after they graduated.

"The biggest advantage of this cross-regional framework is that it makes use of non-government organization's power," said team member Tao Weishuo.

The proposal was hailed by the competition's judging panel, who said that the students addressed a problem which has received increasing attention.