In August 2023, President Price and Provost Gallimore visited China to re-engage and re-energize relationships with alumni and the Duke Kunshan University community in the post-acute COVID world. In November, a delegation of faculty, staff and leadership from Duke will follow up the President and Provost’s summer visit with a trip to China aimed at furthering this re-connection.
The delegation, led by Vice President/Vice Provost Steelman, will include meetings with key diplomatic partners in Beijing and Shanghai around the topic of climate diplomacy. Given the sizes of the Chinese and U.S. economies and the two countries’ greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical that the U.S. and China can find ways to communicate and work together proactively and productively toward implementing climate solutions.
Additionally, the delegation will spend time at Duke Kunshan University (DKU), engaging with faculty and students on how Duke and DKU can work together on issues related to climate and sustainability. The trip will culminate in the Duke International Forum, to be held at DKU on November 17. This forum will bring together DKU, Duke, and Wuhan University faculty, students and staff participants, other academic researchers in China, policy makers, industry leaders and non-profit representatives to focus on climate and sustainability topics. The delegation will participate in this important event, further celebrating and highlighting the Duke Climate Commitment and its connections to work done in Durham, Kunshan and beyond.