Establishment of the New Academic Committee of Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education

On the morning of March 27, 2025, the first meeting of the new Academic Committee of Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education was held. Yan Pengtao, Director of Lifelong Education Department of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Prof. Ye Lan, Director of Academic Committee of Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, and Ding Gang, Shi Weiping, Yang Xiong, Yang Deguang, Fan Guorui, Rao Congmeng, Yuan Wen, Peng Zhengmei, Han Min, and Tan Xu, members of the Academic Committee of Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education attended the meeting. The meeting was presided over by Li Jiacheng, Executive Vice President of Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education.

Site of the Appointment Ceremony of the New Academic Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education and the Expert Consultation Meeting on the Development Planning of the Institute.

At the beginning of the meeting, Meng Zhongjie, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of East China Normal University and President of the Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, delivered a speech via video. He firstly expressed his sincere thanks and high respect to all the members. He recalled that since the institute was jointly established by the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government in 2012, it has been relying on the advantages of education disciplines of East China Normal University, under the leadership of Prof. Ye Lan, and collaborating with research forces at home and abroad to focus on the “construction and monitoring of the learning society”, “high-quality development of elderly education”, “sustainable development of community”, “development of community education”, and so on. Under the leadership of Prof. Ye Lan, the program focuses on the three major research areas of “Construction and Monitoring of Learning Society”, “High Quality Development of Elderly Education”, “Education for Sustainable Community Development”, serves the strategic needs of the country, and has formed an innovative mode of integrating scientific research, decision-making and practice, and has achieved remarkable results.

Prof. Meng pointed out that the establishment of the new Academic Committee is an important symbol of the SMILE's development. The new members come from different segments and directions in the field of education, with profound academic attainments and enthusiasm for the cause of lifelong education. He put forward three expectations for the development of SMILE under the guidance of the new Academic Committee: firstly, to adhere to the academic leadership, serve the national strategy, promote the cross-fertilization of disciplines, and provide decision-making consultancy for the development of lifelong education in the country; secondly, to adhere to the practice orientation, serve the people's livelihood and universality, and build a ubiquitous and accessible education system; thirdly, to expand the international vision, introduce advanced concepts, promote exchanges and cooperation, and popularize the Shanghai experience.

Video Speech by Meng Zhongjie, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of East China Normal University and President of Shanghai Municipal Institute of Lifelong Education

Commissioned by Mr. Ye Linlin, Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Mr. Yan Pengtao, Director of Lifelong Education Department, delivered a speech. Director Yan pointed out that the Shanghai Municipal Institute for Lifelong Education, as an important think tank commissioned by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and organized by East China Normal University, has played a key role since its establishment.SMILE has made outstanding contributions to Shanghai's joining the Global Network of Learning Cities in 2019 and obtaining the Global Learning Cities Award in 2021. In recent years, SMILE has actively undertaken research tasks commissioned by the Ministry of Education, demonstrating Shanghai's role as a leader in the field of lifelong education in the country. For the future development of SMILE, Director Yan put forward three suggestions: first, to build an autonomous knowledge system of lifelong education based on Shanghai's practice, and form a theory of lifelong education with Shanghai's characteristics, so as to cope with the requirements of high-quality development in the new era; second, to strengthen the comparative research of international cities, learn from the excellent experience of other cities, and at the same time, pay attention to the development of domestic cities, so as to enhance the influence of SMILE in the country; third, to continue to promote the construction of the curriculum of elderly education, participate in the drafting of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 15th Five-Year Plan, and further expand the field of research to enhance its research power and influence.

Yan Pengtao, Director of Lifelong Education Department of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, delivered a speech.

During the appointment ceremony, Mr. Yan Pengtao, Director of the Lifelong Education Department of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, issued the appointment certificates to the experts of the new Academic Committee one by one. This marks the new academic committee formally performs its duties.