Recently, an English course "Sustainable Urban Development in APEC under the SDGs" for graduate students has been created by APSEC. This course has now been approved by the Graduate School of Tianjin University and incorporated into the English course system for urban planning of the School of Architecture. The establishment of this course is a solid step taken by APSEC to support the discipline construction of the School of Architecture, promote the internationalization of our school's education, and establish a high-level international education and teaching system.

Global climate change receives worldwide attention, and urban sustainability is a matter of wide concern in the world. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the related global frameworks included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represent an innovative global goal-oriented development paradigm. Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities) places higher requirements on urban development. As urban planners play a key role in the construction of sustainable cities and communities, the knowledge system of the SDGs is even more needed.

The course will not only broaden the horizon of students by giving them a genuinely global and holistic perspective of urban development, but also give tomorrow’s urban planners and leaders theoretical concepts and practical tools. The teaching material of this course will be in English. The main teaching materials include APEC Sustainable Urban Development Report (APEC publication by APSEC), the outcome reports of international organizations and ISO standards. The part-time Swiss professor of architecture SteivanDefilla will be the lecturer, and the lecturer Zhexing Yan will be the tutor.

Let's look forward to the beginning of the new term graduate English course! At the same time, we are also looking forward to discussing the sustainable development of Asia Pacific cities with you！