VE China Hub Announces Three Major Events for 2025

The Virtual Exchange (VE) China Hub, an initiative jointly led by the Online Confucius Institute at The Open University with four other institutions, is pleased to announce three events taking place in 2025 that will further strengthen international collaboration in the fields of digital education. These events provide opportunities for academic exchange, professional networking and innovation in virtual exchange practices. Click the subject title to find out about the upcoming events.

1. ProGlobe Spring School & International Business Case Conference (May 12-16, 2025, Shenzhen, China)

The ProGlobe Spring School 2025 will be hosted at Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU) from May 12-16, 2025. ProGlobe  –  Digital  Project-Based  Learning:  Promoting  the  Global  Exchange  of  Ideas  on Sustainable Goals, Practices and Cultural Diversity is an interdisciplinary Virtual Exchange project between Canada, China, Germany, Portugal and the US that aims to encourage communication among all five countries to raise awareness on the impact of environmental and social issues. In the past, the VE project was expanded by two Summer Schools in Germany (2023) and Portugal (2024). In 2025, the ProGlobe Spring School will be hosted in China and feature:

• Company visits to leading firms such as BYD and Tencent
• A three-day International Business Case Conference focusing on “Sustainability in a Digital Era.”
• Publication opportunity: Accepted conference talks will be published in a bilingual book (Chinese/English) by a Chinese publisher

Stakeholders of the VE China Hub are encouraged to attend the conference, either in person or online. Interested colleagues can reach out to internationalprojects.spz@h-brs.de to receive further information such as the conference schedule.

2. Lightning Talk Event (May 14, 2025, Online)

As part of the International Business Case Conference, the VE China Hub will host a Lightning Talk Event on May 14, 2025, from 2:30 – 5:00 pm (China time). This event provides a platform for stakeholders to present their Virtual Exchange projects or experiences in short, engaging 5–10-minute talks.

The event will be hosted on Tencent, and interested participants can submit their talk topics and abstracts via an online form. Accepted abstracts will also be published in the same bilingual book as the International Business Case Conference proceedings.

A Save-the-Date email with further details will be sent out shortly to our VE China Hub mailing list. If you would like to be added to this mailing list, please contact internationalprojects.spz@h-brs.de.  

3. ChinaCALL Conference (September 19-21, 2025, Nanjing, China)

The ChinaCALL Conference, taking place in Nanjing from September 19-21, 2025, will focus on “Innovating CALL, Innovating Pedagogy.” The Online Confucius Institute at The Open University and VE China Hub are among the cohosts of the conference. A symposium on VE will be held during the conference.

More details, including the official program, will be announced on the ChinaCALL website in the coming months. Interested colleagues can contact internationalprojects.spz@h-brs.de for further information.

Next Stakeholder Meeting

The next VE China Hub Stakeholder Meeting is planned for February 27, 2025, at 09.00 am UTC. If you wish to join or learn more, please contact Online-CI@open.ac.uk or internationalprojects.spz@h-brs.de.