SCI China had an exciting, fast-paced summer and SCI China Director Dr. Yizhao Yang is ready to take the groundbreaking work of the program to new heights in the year ahead.

Over the summer, Dr. Yang and SCI Co-Director Nico Larco traveled to Chengdu, China to participate in an exchange conference with Chinese planning and design professionals. Dr. Yang and Larco presented the “Oregon Experience”, discussing work on urban growth boundaries, green streets, active transportation research, and indicator systems.

The exchange conference developed through existing collaborative efforts with the Chengdu Institute of Planning and Design and was conceived out of their desire to have more engagement with SCI China. The conference was a continuation of an ongoing international exchange of expertise and research between the two entities.

For the upcoming academic year, SCI China plans to continue the highly successful Visiting Scholar program. This program brings Chinese scholars and practitioners to Oregon for six to nine months, providing them with an opportunity to conduct applied research on planning and design strategies for urban development. The scholars work with faculty members at the University of Oregon, as well as with local and statewide government agencies and firms. This year, SCI China hopes to expand the Visiting Scholars program to work with groups of planners and to eventually develop an Oregon-China exchange.

SCI China is also pursuing certification to oversee training for Chinese professionals through the Chinese SAFE-A (State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs). This certification will allow SCI China to accredit Chinese professionals in sustainable design., The SAFEA certification is prestigious, as only 300 entities are on the list of qualified programs, and only one other group on the list focuses on sustainability.

SCI China is also pursuing a research project on urban containment policies in Chinese cities, with plans to actively collaborate with cities around China. For more information on this project, contact Dehui Wei at dwei@uoregon.edu.