From November 11 to 13, the 2024 Global City Education Network (GCEN) Symposium kicked off at Helsinki City Hall in Finland. Hosted jointly by the Finnish Ministry of Education, HundrED, and the U.S. Center for Digital Innovation, the event brought together delegations from 12 cities across 10 countries, including Shanghai (China), California (USA), British Columbia (Canada), France, Estonia, and London (UK).
(Professor Hu Guoyong, Director of the Centre, delivering a speech at the conference)
The symposium featured five themes: Teacher Development and Professional Attractiveness, Creation of Digital Learning Environments, Child Development from a Holistic Perspective, Student-Centered Educational Assessment, and Ecosystem and Governance for Sustainable Educational Development. Professor Hu Guoyong, Director of the Centre, and Associate Professor Xu Jinjie spoke during interactions at the main forum and parallel sessions, sharing achievements and experiences in Shanghai’s basic education development. Professor Sang Biao, President of the Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences; Professor Xu Shiqiang, Director of the Institute of General Education; Chen Hui, Deputy Party Secretary of Shanghai Experimental School; and other members of the Centre joined forces to represent Shanghai, China, delivering keynote speeches and engaging in exchanges.
(Associate Professor Xu Jinjie of the Centre interacting with representatives from various cities)
At the closing ceremony, as the host of the next GCEN Symposium, a promotional video of the Centre was played. Professor Hu Guoyong, Director of the Centre, introduced the Centre’s development to participating city representatives and sincerely welcomed them to gather in Shanghai in 2025 to discuss urban education development.
(Group photo of the Shanghai, China delegation with the symposium organizers)
Founded in 2011, the Global City Education Network is a community for mutual learning and collaborative research among cities, initiated by countries including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and the OECD, with a focus on benchmarking excellent education systems. Shanghai, China, was among the earliest members to join the network. Before the global pandemic, the Centre represented Shanghai, China, at all previous symposia. To date, the network has included 12 cities from 10 countries, such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Estonia, and Singapore.
