Great News: NJCIT's "Neighborly Harmony and Art Language Lectures" Selected as a Community Education Distinctive Project in Jiangsu Province

The Jiangsu Education Department recently announced the projects included in the 2024 provincial-level community education distinctive brand development initiative. The collaborative project, Neighborly Harmony and Art Language Lectures—School-Community Partnership for Creating a Learning Community, developed by NJCIT's School of Digital Arts and the Guangzhi Road Community in Qixia District, Nanjing, made the list. This accolade not only acknowledged the project's innovation, practicality, and societal impact but also attested to the School of Digital Arts' unwavering commitment and significant accomplishments in community education.

Since 2022, the School of Digital Arts has collaborated with the Guangzhi Road Community to establish the community education brand Neighborly Harmony and Art Language Lectures, grounded in the educational philosophy of inclusiveness, ambition, neighborliness, and friendship. The initiative has enhanced the community space and delivered soft cultural and artistic services in an integrated manner. This effort has established a high-quality cultural hub conveniently located at residents' doorsteps.

The successful inclusion of the Neighborly Harmony and Art Language Lectures project can be attributed to its distinct educational philosophy and innovative approach to practice. The project emphasizes the empowerment of aesthetic education, the revitalization of resources, and the joint efforts of schools and local communities. By establishing a triadic learning community, it provides residents with comprehensive and diverse opportunities for education and culture appreciation. Moreover, the project places significant emphasis on fostering resident involvement. It encourages residents to actively engage in the development and enrichment of community culture, thereby contributing collectively to community prosperity.

The School of Digital Arts, as both the initiator and participant of the project, has consistently prioritized community education. It maximized its advantages in educational resources and faculty expertise, thereby ensuring strong support for the successful implementation of the project. Concurrently, the research project Innovative Model of Open Regional Integration in Community Education under the New Productive Forces Paradigm, founded on community education practices, has been designated as a key project in the 2024 Jiangsu Province Elite Program of Applied Research in Social Sciences, specifically under the social education (social sciences popularization) specialized topic category. The acknowledgment of this program as a community education initiative by Jiangsu Province serves not only as a validation and encouragement of the school's efforts in community education but also ushers in broader opportunities and prospects for its future growth and development.

Looking ahead, the School of Digital Arts will further cement its partnership with the Guangzhi Road community, and collaboratively drive the sustained progress of the Neighborly Harmony and Art Language Lectures program. In addition, the school will proactively seek out innovative strategies and approaches, thereby making a substantial impact on building a learning-oriented society and enhancing the overall quality of the population.

Photo/text by Zhang Siwei, School of Digital Arts

Reviewed by Wei Yanyu, School of Digital Art