Recently, President Li Zhaohu met with Professor Attila Fábián, President of the University of Sopron in Hungary, to discuss establishing an inter-university partnership and enhancing cooperation across disciplines. The meeting was chaired by the head of the Office for International Relations.

Li Zhaohu extended a warm welcome to Professor Attila Fábián on behalf of BFU. He highlighted the strong academic parallels between the two universities and advocated for increased collaboration in student exchange programs, joint graduate studies, and international labs to tackle global climate change together. Li urged that related faculties quickly initiate dialogue to facilitate meaningful collaborations.

Attila Fábián shared that Hungary's Széchenyi István University, with its strong emphasis on forestry engineering, dates back to 1735. Initially established as a university of forestry science and technology, it has produced numerous experts in mining, forestry, and metallurgy. Today, the university is committed to combating global climate change and is ranked fifth in Europe for forestry education. Given the similarities between the academic offerings of both universities, Fábián sees significant potential for collaboration and anticipates further in-depth exchanges and cooperation.

At the event, Li Zhaohu and Attila Fábián, representing BFU and Széchenyi István University respectively, signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The directors of the Office for International Relations, along with the deans and relevant faculty from the College of Forestry and College of Material Science and Technology, provided introductions to their respective colleges and departments.

Széchenyi István University, known as a "green university", engages in close international partnerships with institutions focused on forestry and ecology worldwide. It is the unique founding member from Hungary in the Nature Positive Universities Alliance (NPUA), which was launched by 117 universities from 48 nations, spearheaded by the UN Environment Programme and Oxford University, and has expanded to include more than 400 universities. Additionally, the university helped establish the Hungarian Universities Sustainable Development Platform.

Written by Chen Ruoyi and Sun Zhuohua
Translated and edited by Song He
Reviewed by Yu Yangyang