Experts discuss creativity and sustainable development

Experts and scholars from home and abroad joined in discussions at the Belt and Road International Forum on Creativity and Sustainable Development in Post-Pandemic Era on July 31.

The forum, held via the video conferencing application Zoom, was jointly hosted by the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, and the International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development under the auspices of UNESCO.

As the ongoing pandemic poses new challenges to sustainable development, the forum discussed what countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative can do in promoting the exchange of cultural resources and the development of cultural technologies in order to support sustainable development and global economic recovery.

Xiao Lan, executive director of the center under UNESCO auspices, pointed out that the pandemic has brought significant challenges to cultural development strategies as well as changed our ways of living and production, accelerating the application of new innovative technologies and advancing international cooperation.

Chairman of the forum Xiang Yong, vice-dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries, summarized that experts have reached a consensus in five aspects -- reshaping the perceptions in the post-pandemic era, focusing on technological innovation, highlighting cultural values, advocating for global cultural exchange, and promoting resource sharing among countries.