The 20th Anniversary Event and the 2nd Work Conference of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network in Distance and Open Learning has been successfully held at SOU on Nov 20. More than 80 representatives attended the event, including leaders from the Member Institutions, experts and scholars in the field of ODL. Dr. TANG Qian, Assistant-Director General for Education sent congratulatory message on behalf of UNESCO. International organizations including ICDE, ACDE and COL, higher education institutions including Open University of Netherlands also sent messages to congratulate the Network on the occasion of its 20th anniversary celebration.

Ms. YU Xiaoping, Director of Department of Education of the National Commission of the People’s Republic of China for UNESCO, Mr. NI Minjing, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and Prof. LOU Junjiang, Deputy Director of SOU Council attended the opening ceremony and delivered opening address. Prof. WANG Yibing, Founder of the Network and Dr YUAN Wen, Chairholder of the Network and President of SOU delivered keynote speeches.

At the Work Conference, representatives of the Member Institutions looked back to the development history and summarized the experience and achievement obtained based on the principle of the Network. Questions including how to make full use of their institution’s advantages and distinctive fields, how to work more closely with other member institutions, and how to make contributions to the Network’s development have been discussed at the Conference.