Xu Huajun: Cultivating High-Quality Talent Compatible with Green and Low-Carbon Development
By Xu Huajun
Against the backdrop of the global collective effort to address climate change, China has actively assumed the responsibilities of a major power and made a solemn commitment to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality [1]. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed to "improve the basic systems for ecological civilization," "perfect the ecological environment governance system," and "improve the mechanisms for green and low-carbon development." This series of important deployments demonstrates China’s firm determination to promote green and low-carbon development. To achieve this, it is necessary to mobilize the forces of universities, enterprises, and the whole of society to cultivate a vast number of high-quality talents who practice green and low-carbon concepts, adapt to a green and low-carbon society, and lead green and low-carbon development, thereby dedicating themselves to key fields such as energy transition, industrial upgrading, and ecological protection.
Leveraging the Role of Universities in Constructing a Green and Low-Carbon Education System
The Implementation Plan for the Development of a Green and Low-Carbon National Education System issued by the Ministry of Education proposes to fully integrate green and low-carbon development concepts into all levels and fields of the national education system. This includes integrating green and low-carbon requirements into the curricula and textbooks of all educational stages, strengthening green and low-carbon development training for teachers, bolstering the construction of relevant professional disciplines, and making the practice of green and low-carbon living a vital component of educational activities. For universities, the cultivation of high-quality green and low-carbon talents should focus on the following aspects:
Accelerating the construction of disciplines and majors. We must not only speed up the development of disciplines such as energy storage, hydrogen energy, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), carbon emission rights trading, carbon sinks, and green finance—and establish relevant majors in fields like low-carbon architecture, photovoltaics, hydropower, wind power, environmental protection, carbon emission accounting, and measurement monitoring—but also accelerate the formation of an interdisciplinary talent cultivation system. For example, by strengthening multi-disciplinary integration, we can construct a core knowledge system for carbon peak and carbon neutrality involving climate systems, energy transition, industrial upgrading, urban and rural construction, international political economy, and diplomacy. We should compile a set of high-quality textbooks in the field of carbon peak and carbon neutrality to lay the foundation for training high-level, composite green and low-carbon talents.
Promoting innovation in educational methods. We should carry out theme-based education on green and low-carbon topics, organizing relevant activities during milestones such as World Environment Day, Earth Day, National Low-Carbon Day, and National Ecology Day to enable students to access frontier information and broaden their horizons. We must implement innovation and entrepreneurship education focused on green and low-carbon themes, supporting university students in innovating within these fields to encourage proactive learning and build a solid foundation for future work or scientific research. We should promote "teaching through competition" [2] by organizing and participating in various disciplinary contests, such as the national "Challenge Cup" competition, the National University Student Low-Carbon Circular Science and Technology Innovation Competition, and the National University Student Social Practice and Science and Technology Contest on Energy Saving and Emission Reduction, to hone students' innovative thinking and practical abilities.
Prioritizing the guidance of concepts and behavior. Only by incorporating the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee regarding carbon peak and carbon neutrality into the ideological and political work system [3] of universities—and guiding students to profoundly understand the importance of green and low-carbon development—can we effectively enhance their sense of responsibility and mission. We must leverage the role of the classroom as the "main channel," integrating content related to green and low-carbon development into ideological and political theory courses. We should also give full play to the guiding role of the "second classroom" [4], utilizing various carriers such as "Situation and Policy" education lectures, expert reports, specialized symposiums, and student club activities to guide students in deepening their perception of green and low-carbon concepts through practice. Simultaneously, we should strengthen the construction of green and low-carbon campus culture, allowing students to embrace these developmental concepts within an immersive cultural environment.
Enterprises Can Act as a Bridge in Cultivating Green and Low-Carbon Talents
Enterprises are the primary actors in the development of green and low-carbon industries and bear important responsibilities in promoting green education. Achieving their own green and low-carbon development is the prerequisite for fulfilling this responsibility. Enterprises should actively adopt energy-saving and environmental protection technologies, optimize process flows to reduce energy consumption during production, and establish a sound energy management system to implement refined management of energy procurement, distribution, and use. For waste materials and residues generated during production, they should actively explore recycling and reprocessing routes to promote the "transformation of waste into treasure" [5].
While achieving their own green development, enterprises can also act as bridges in green education by promoting joint university-enterprise talent cultivation and the co-construction of scientific research platforms. On one hand, by integrating superior resources, universities and enterprises can work together to formulate scientific talent cultivation plans and create teaching models that deeply integrate theory and practice. Regarding cooperation content, universities can jointly develop courses with enterprises, introducing the latter's rich practical experience and advanced technology. Regarding cooperation mechanisms, both parties should establish long-term, stable relationships to form a virtuous cycle of complementary advantages and resource sharing. On the other hand, through co-constructed research platforms, both parties can jointly conduct research projects and share equipment and data. This helps combine the scientific research innovation of universities with the market application and transformation capabilities of enterprises, accelerating the transition of research results from the laboratory to practical application. Furthermore, enterprises can cooperate with universities and research institutes to explore scientific and effective evaluation and certification mechanisms for green and low-carbon talents, formulating a set of professional standards that cover different industrial fields and levels of demand.
Creating a Favorable Social Atmosphere for Green and Low-Carbon Education
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "We must advocate a simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon lifestyle, reject luxury and waste, and form a civilized and healthy fashion of life." The public are important participants in green and low-carbon development. To promote a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, we must give full play to the roles of families, communities, and various social organizations. Through diverse publicity and education activities, we can foster a social climate that prizes green living and active environmental protection.
Building an open and inclusive continuing education system in the green and low-carbon field can provide diverse, flexible, and convenient learning channels for the public. For instance, for professionals in different industries, we can provide short-term training, academic lectures, and practical education on topics such as energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, new energy applications, and green supply chain management. This helps the workforce update their professional skills to adapt to the requirements of green development and achieve lifelong learning.
The arrival of the digital age has provided great convenience for expanding green and low-carbon educational resources across society. Releasing diverse online courses, popular science articles, and short videos via new media platforms allows green education to break through the constraints of time and space. The organic combination of online and offline resources constructs a multi-dimensional learning system, providing fertile soil for raising public awareness and cultivating innovative talents with both creative thinking and practical skills.
(The author, Xu Huajun, is a specially invited researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Center for the Study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Committee at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology.)
Source: Guangming Daily (January 8, 2025, Page 06) Online Editor: Huihui