From November 29 to 30, the much-anticipated 2023 International Symposium on the Development of Natural Science Museums under BRI (BRISMIS 2023) was successfully convened in Beijing. Nearly 50 representatives from 4 international organizations and natural science museums in more than 20 countries, as well as over 240 professionals from various natural science museums, science popularization institutions and enterprises in China attended the event in person at China Science and Technology Museum (CSTM). Centering on the theme of "Making Life Better for All: STEM Education in an Informal Context", the participants discussed and explored new concepts, new ideas, and new practices in STEM education adopted by natural science museums as critical partners of UNESCO in the post-epidemic era, as well as their new missions, new responsibilities, and new undertakings in addressing global challenges and promoting the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). The Conference was broadcast live online, with a cumulative number of viewers reaching 3.96 million. Under the patronage of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), BRISMIS 2023 was hosted by the Chinese Association of Natural Science Museums (CANSM), organized by CSTM, and co-organized by China Railway Museum, National Zoological Museum of China, and the Beijing Planetarium.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Mr. Ou Jiancheng, Vice President and Secretary-General of CANSM. Those attending this opening plenary session included Mr. He Junke, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of CAST; Dr. Cheng Donghong, President of CANSM; Mr. Yin Hao, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of CAST; Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Regional Office in East Asia/UNESCO Representative to China, DPRK, Japan, Mongolia, and ROK; Dr. Yoslan Nur, Head of the Natural Sciences Sector (a.i.) at the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya; Prof. Seifollah Jalili, Board Member of ICOM International Committee for Museums and Collections of Science and Technology (ICOM-CIMUSET); Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela, Astronomy Education Research Coordinator of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Office of Astronomy for Education; Prof. Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive of Science Centre Singapore, President of the Singapore Association for the Advancement of Science, President of Singapore National Academy of Science, President of ASPAC; Mr. Kuoch Vengsrun,Secretary of State at Office of the Council of Ministers, Cambodia; as well as directors from relevant departments, institutions, societies under CAST, representatives of partnered institutions and sponsors of the Symposium, Beijing-based media, and science popularization enterprises. At the invitation of the organizing committee of BRISMIS 2023, all lecturers and trainees from the 2023 International Training Workshop on Capacity Building for Professionals of Science Centers and Museums attended the opening ceremony as well.
In her opening address, CANSM President Cheng Donghong welcomed the representatives from the international organizations and natural science museums and institutions in various countries who attended the Conference. As President Cheng Donghong noted, the concepts of BRISMIS are openness, learning, mutual reference and growth, and BRISMIS originated from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) but is not limited to BRI. With an open attitude, BRISMIS welcomes natural and science-related museums all over the world to join this big family. The platform advocates the spirit of learning, encouraging natural and science-related museums to draw on the advanced educational concepts, and keep abreast of the dynamics in sci-tech development. It promotes mutual learning in the hope of sharing experiences and enabling all parties to gain benefits through communication and cooperation; pursues growth in the expectation that in the coming five years, all participating natural science museums will continue to use BRISMIS as a platform to help achieve UNSDGs and jointly promote the high-quality development of natural science museums.
As Executive Secretary Yin Hao mentioned in his speech, this year marks the 10th anniversary of joint construction of the BRI proposed by President Xi Jinping, and the BRI has entered a new stage of high-quality development. As a non-governmental organization that connects and serves scientific and technological professionals, CAST has always focused on promoting the development of science and technology in China, attached great importance to non-governmental scientific and cultural exchanges in BRI-partnered countries, and made achievements in the establishment of international organizations, exchanges and cooperation in science popularization, sharing of science popularization resources, and youth talents training. BRISMIS provides every country and representative with equal opportunities for participation and exchange, which is a vivid practice of the BRI in the field of science popularization. CAST will work with everyone to take firm steps towards openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
On behalf of UNESCO, Prof. Shahbaz Khan delivered an address and gave a keynote speech entitled Museums in the Time of Transition. In his speech, he emphasized the important role of science museums and science centers in promoting sustainable development. Through cooperation with UNESCO and other institutions, science museums are at the forefront of shaping a sustainable world, conducting science education, promoting public engagement, and driving changes for a better future. He also shared exemplary projects of different science museums around the world, introduced UNESCO's efforts in promoting science, technology, innovation and knowledge, and called for strengthening cooperation among science museums and science centers globally in order to jointly contribute to the realization of net-zero carbon emissions and the SDGs.
At the opening plenary session, the ceremony of Taking the Partnership Forward—CANSM and UNESCO Reaffirming Their Commitment to Their Letter of Agreement was held. In June 2018 and guided by their shared missions and visions, the two organizations signed a five-year cooperation agreement. Over the past five years, under the framework of this agreement, the two parties have worked together in good faith, given full play to the role and advantages of the BRISMIS platform, and successfully organized and implemented a number of cooperative projects, making positive contributions to the joint construction of the BRI and promoting the realization of the UNSDGs. To build on the fruitful cooperation results and tangible benefits in the past five years, both parties readily renewed their LOA in May this year, thus opening up a new chapter of cooperation in the next five years. At this brief yet solemn ceremony, Director Shahbaz Khan and President Cheng Donghong, respectively on behalf of UNESCO and CANSM, reiterated the solemn commitment by both parties to the cooperation agreement as well as their determination and confidence to continue in-depth cooperation in the next five years by publicly displaying the renewed LOA.
As a high-level, comprehensive, and international platform for mutually beneficial sharing, BRISMIS has over the years been actively creating enabling conditions and environments for promoting international cooperation among nature and science-related museums. At the opening plenary session of BRISMIS 2023, letters of intent for tripartite and bilateral cooperation were respectively signed among CANSM, UNESCO, and Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy, as well as between CSTM and UNESCO, with a view to supporting African countries in setting up and developing natural science museums and helping African countries address the severe shortages in science popularization facilities, resources and services. Under the organization and facilitation of CANSM, more than 10 MOUs for cooperation were signed among domestic and foreign science popularization institutions, museums and organizations on the conference site, which opened up a new chapter for all participating natural and science-related museums to continue practical international cooperation and achieve high-quality development in the context of the new decade of the BRI and the new five year period of the bilateral LOA between CANSM and UNESCO.
After the opening ceremony, Mr. Jia Yueming, Vice President of CANSM, took over as the moderator for the keynote and featured speeches session. Dr. Wang Xiaoming, Vice President of CANSM, delivered a keynote speech entitled New Thoughts on the Construction and Operation of Science Museums and Science Centers. He argued that natural and science-related museums are not only places for showcasing historical and current scientific & technological achievements, but also platforms for science education and communication full of imagination, attraction and affinity. According to his suggestion, during the construction and operation processes of natural and science-related museums, appropriate functions should be selected to accurately position natural and science-related museums, clarify their needs, formulate plans, synchronize the design of exhibition contents with in-museum education, achieve integrated development in conjunction with communities, and continuously adapt to the development of the digital intelligence age.
Dr. Yoslan Nur, Head of the Natural Sciences Sector (a.i.) at the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya, gave a featured speech titled Current Status and Future Outlook of Science Centers and Science Museums in Africa. He comprehensively analyzed the importance and prospects of natural science museums in Africa from the aspects of population structure, current development status of and challenges faced by natural and science-related museums and their future development strategies. He pointed out that the African continent is facing increasing population pressure, highlighting the urgency of establishing and expanding science centers and museums. In his viewpoint, establishing a comprehensive coordination mechanism to involve all stakeholders in science communication is a top priority in addressing the development challenges facing natural and science-related museums in Africa. He proposed major strategies such as policy support, increased funding and investment, public-private partnerships, capacity building, adoption of new technologies and mobile science museum resources as supplement or alternatives to physical museums.
Focusing on the theme of the Conference, BRISMIS 2023 has arranged three thematic forums, i.e. "New measures to promote equal access to and sharing of STEM education resources in science & technology-related museums with digital technology", "New ideas for setting up of science & technology-related museums under the concept of STEM education" and "New thinking on how science & technology-related museums promote the integrated development of STEM education and cultural education". Through thematic presentations, high-level dialogues and other forms, directors or experts from BRI-partnered natural and science-related museums were invited to conduct in-depth discussions on and draw on each other’s best practices in the development of natural and science-related museums under the STEM education concept during the post-epidemic era, the role of STEM education in promoting the realization of UNSDGs, as well as the co-construction and collaborative sharing of resources. To enrich participants’ experience, as well as to promote exchanges and cooperation among different types of museums, the Conference organized Chinese and foreign representatives to visit natural and science-related museums and popular science resources such as China Science and Technology Museum, the Beijing Planetarium, China Railway Museum, and the National Zoological Museum of China.
With a view to expanding the communication channels and diversifying the conference contents, BRISMIS 2023 arranged two pre-conference partnered workshops—the workshop themed "Science Education in Science Centers and Museums for a Better Life" organized in collaboration with ICOM-CIMUSET and CSTM, with the aim to integrate the latest theories and practices in science & technology museum development with the actual construction and development of science museums, and provide high-quality learning and exchange opportunities to practitioners; and the workshop themed "Exploration and Practices of STEM Education in Planetariums" organized in collaboration with IAU-OAE Center China, Nanjing and the Beijing Planetarium, with the aim to look back on the century-old history of planetariums and astronomy for education. The organizing of the two partnered workshops was aimed to continuously strengthen the cooperation and exchanges in the fields of science museums and planetariums among international science education facilities and institutions.
On the occasion of BRISMIS 2023, the official Conference website launched a new "Online Exhibition Hall" section, setting up content of two categories, i.e. "Explore BRI Natural Science Museums" and "A Repository of Popular Science Resources", which received widespread attention and participation from domestic and foreign natural and science-related museums, institutions and enterprises. The "Online Exhibition Hall" will remain open for an indefinite period of time, providing services for sharing information and resources including introductions to museums, exhibitions, films, short videos, educational activities/programs, and products, etc.
The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed BRI. Looking forward, BRISMIS 2023 will continue to adhere to the concepts of openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation, as well as the principles of equal participation, mutual benefit and common development; deepen international cooperation among natural and science-related museums; and promote the mutually beneficial sharing of STEM education resources among natural and science-related museums, so as to boost, deepen and substantiate the high-quality development of the joint construction of the BRI; push for the realization of the UNSDGs as scheduled; and make new and greater contributions to serving the building of a global community with a shared future for mankind.