Collaboration

School of Design fosters intimate communication with prestigious international institutions and cutting-edge scholars, and has developed permanent, stable collaborative relationships and cooperation practices on the basis of mutual understanding and recognition. Currently we have forged regular and ongoing collaboration with more than thirty world-class academic institutions including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, and Cornell University in the USA, McGill University in Canada, the University of New South Wales in Australia, Politecnico di Milano in Italy, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Eindhoven University of Technology in Netherlands, the National University of Singapore in Singapore, and CEPT University in India. We have cultivated stable forms of cooperation with educational and research institutions from countries included in the One Belt One Road initiative; have participated widely in collaborative activities pertaining to student education, scientific research, fraternal visits, academic events, professional exhibitions, and centers for practice overseas. Active in the international community, we host about 90 personnel per year, and organize approximately 100 trips abroad by students and teachers annually.

International Collaborations

In recent years, by aiming to promote our international influence, through an enhanced educational model, the School of Design has improved our comprehensive international teaching level and has received world-wide acclaim. We have completed contractual agreements to offer Master’s Degrees with the University of Michigan, University of New South Wales and McGill University; and have started to offer double Master’s or Doctor’s Degree Programs with Politecnico di Milano. We have made progress towards towards and eventually achieved IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) professional recognition for education in Chinese Landscape Architecture (making us the only such recognized domestic educational institute); accelerated innovative systems for the nurture of international education, and launched unique international postgraduate programs. Our international enrollment has increased steadily to a current rate of 20% with graduate students from top level institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We have launched regular ongoing exchange programs with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Technical University of Munich, Delft University of Technology, University of Sheffield, Politecnico di Torino, IUAV University of Venice, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of Adelaide and more. As a result, 20% of our students are international visitors; and an impressive 30% of current students choose to go abroad through involvement with international programs. Through cooperating with enterprises and international partners, and founding centers for educational practice abroad, we boost students’ professional abilities in practice.

1. Hosting the workshop camp Save Traditional Villages with the University of Hong Kong, Politecnico di Torino and IUAV University of Venice in 2018 and 2019, awarded special prize in the 2018 Shanghai Zhi Xing Cup (知行杯）in the category of University Students’ Social Practice Project.

2. Conducting One Belt One Road Mid-Eastern European Countryside Revival Research with Agricultural University—the Plovdiv and Sophia Agriculture Countryside Economy Research Center in Bulgaria, awarded second prize in the Shanghai Zhi Xing Cup (知行杯）category for University Students’ Social Practice Project.

3. China-Italy International Summer Camp

4. Hosting China-Europe International CD-DIP Innovative Practice Summer Camp with Danish brand Bang&Olufsen, Aalborg University, Hanze Hogeschool Groningen University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, Cracow University of Technology in Poland. This project was elected as a Shanghai Innovative Practice Project.

5. Chinese Landscape Garden Summer Camp

6. SJTU-MIT-Tsinghua Workshop Camp

7. Holding a design workshop with Sri Lanka’s City School of Architecture, Colombo.

Collaborative Research

With a mandate to foster international professionals, School of Design examines domestic and foreign industry requirements. It engages dynamically in cooperative projects in One Belt One Road countries, in domestic projects, and even in the design of rural and urban residential space within European countries. This attracts strong support from local government and institutions. The Ministry of Science and Technology of China approved our project with Agricultural University—Plovdiv and Sophia Agriculture Countryside Economy Research Center of Bulgaria as an international cooperation project. We have been experimenting further partnerships with top international institutions and research centers, and advancing substantial scientific research collaboration. This has included the founding of the SJTU-Fraunhofer Urban Eco-development Project Center with Fraunhofer University’s Research Center, as well as participation in other programs with Cornell University, the University of Leeds, the Technical University of Munich, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and the Technical University of Denmark.

Academic Events

We have hosted the following major international conferences, competitions and exhibitions:

Sept. 2021, held An Urban Forum of Six Cities - Global Cities in the Covid Era

May 2021, held the FourC Challenge 24-hour Global Design Charrette Contest themed "ReVive"

Oct 2020, host of the 3rd Young Scholars International Forum on Design Innovation

June 2020, held the FourC Challenge 24-hour Global Design Charrette Contest themed "ReConnect"

Dec. 2019, host of the 2^rd Young Scholars International Forum on Design Innovation

Nov. 2019, organized the International Symposium on the Idea of Design Education, invited scholars and deans from inside and outside of China such as Harvard University to discuss the current challenges in human society that design education can confront, and hosted more than three hundred representatives.

Sep.- Dec. 2019, oversaw the SUSAS Exhibition architecture section, with participation from Australian and Italian designers and architects under the theme of “how waterfronts bring wonderful life to people.” The exhibition included “a Tale of Three Cities – Shanghai, Venice and Sydney,” exploring the similarities and features of urban development. The exhibition received over one hundred-thousand visitors, and earned numerous compliments from industry and society.

Sep. 2019, hosted the 7^th International Symposium on Chinese Covered Bridges.

Sep. 2019, hosted the 5^th Oriental Design Forum & 2019 International Symposium on Oriental Design, receiving more than 200 representatives.

May 2019, hosted the 2^nd China-Bulgaria Revitalization Development Forum, Sino-Bulgarian Workshop on Agricultural Science and Technology, and Countryside Technology Initiation Conference of China and Bulgaria.

Regional Collaborations

Besides international connections, the School of Design constantly responds to national and regional strategic development demands, focusing on quality manufacture, digital creativity, low carbon, smart cities, eco-civilization and other domains in widespread collaboration with governments, enterprises, universities and communities in China. This is achieved by organizing research projects, design consulting, and poverty alleviation. We utilize our role as a think-tank to improve the breadth of social service, reflecting SJTUers’ sense of responsibility and care. On the topics of design and health, design and marine, we launched strategic projects with the Affiliated Ruijin Hospital of SJTU, Shanghai 6^th Affiliated People’s Hospital of SJTU, Shanghai Ruijin Rehabilitation Hospital, Shanghai Maritime University, and the Sanya School of Hainan Province; on topics of urban design, urban micro-rebuilding, community management services, heritage preservation and culture inheritance we solved substantial problems for residents. This has included collaboration with the Minhang District Landscaping & City Appearance Administrative Bureau, Jiangchuan Road, Xuhui District Xujiahui Road, Lujia Town of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province and other entities. By designing urban spaces with kindness, and with consideration for humanity, we deliver a warm message about community history, city spirit and humanistic care; by cooperating with major enterprises in industry, we continually form agreements on ways to enhance the bond between production, education and research.