On the afternoon of May 21, Nick Small, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Growth and Economy of Liverpool City Council, led a delegation from Liverpool John Moores University to visit the SUES-DIIS Joint Innovation Center at SUES. Several representatives attended the meeting, including those from the International Office, School of Design (in preparation), School of Air Transportation (School of Flying), Professor Sun Wenqian, and faculty from School of Textiles and Fashion.
President Lou extended a warm welcome to Nick Small and his delegation. Lou provided a detailed introduction to SUES’ innovative “Engineering × Management × Design” 3-wings model and shared practical outcomes of leveraging the SUES-DIIS Joint Innovation Center as a hub to seamlessly connect education, research, and industry. Lou noted that the two universities have a solid foundation and aligned educational philosophies, expressing the hope that the collaboration could break disciplinary and regional boundaries, explore systematic approaches to “design-driven innovation,” and generate globally influential results in areas such as artificial intelligence, sustainable development, and urban governance, setting a new benchmark for Sino-UK educational cooperation.
Nick Small expressed his gratitude for the warm reception. He emphasized that educational collaboration is an important link between the sister cities of Liverpool and Shanghai, and that he looked forward to further expanding student exchanges, faculty visits, and lecture-sharing between the two universities. University education plays a crucial role in promoting societal development, and “rewriting the mission of higher education” is a shared pursuit of both institutions. He particularly highlighted the opportunity to leverage the sister-city relationship between Shanghai and Liverpool and to utilize SUES’ urban campuses in Hongkou and Jing’an to promote deep collaboration in the creative field, exploring new pathways for mutually beneficial growth between education and urban development.
Julia Wang, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for International Relations of Liverpool John Moores University, spoke about the progress and prospects of the collaboration. She reviewed the fruitful outcomes of nearly a decade of partnership, emphasizing that, in the face of new global challenges, universities should take proactive responsibility to connect the world through education and respond to the times through innovation. With Liverpool John Moores University recently establishing an Institute and School of Artificial Intelligence, and SUES possessing unique advantages in related fields, the two universities have natural complementarities. She expressed hope that the universities could not only act as implementers of cooperation but also define Sino-UK educational innovation, jointly leading in interdisciplinary integration, industry-education collaboration, and talent cultivation reform.
During the meeting, representatives from both universities held in-depth discussions on topics including the Smart Sportswear and Sustainable Packaging Design Laboratory, dual-degree programs, the 10th-anniversary series of collaborative events, and industry-university-research cooperation based on the SUES-DIIS Joint Innovation Center. The two sides reached multiple agreements.
During the visit, the delegation toured the SUES-DIIS Joint Innovation Center. Nick Small highly praised the center’s cutting-edge concepts and practical outcomes, expressing the hope for closer collaboration between Liverpool universities and innovation institutions and SUES in the future.
SUES established a partnership with Liverpool John Moores University in 2017. Since then, senior-level exchanges have been frequent, faculty and student exchanges have been extensive, and joint laboratory results have been substantial. This visit represents a key milestone in the collaboration, reflecting on the past eight years of practical cooperation and planning for the next decade. Standing at this new starting point, the two universities will continue to work together, using education as a bridge of hearts, innovation, and future between the sister cities of Shanghai and Liverpool.
