A launch ceremony for the inaugural issue of the VTE journal was held during the conference.

From May 18th to 19th, the 2024 International Academic Seminar on "Vocation, Technology & Education" (VTE) was held at our university. This seminar, themed around "Development Trends and Interactive Relationships in Vocation, Technology & Education", invited well-known experts and scholars in the field of vocational education from both domestic and international backgrounds to engage in in-depth discussions and exchanges. They shared theoretical explorations and practical experiences in the fields of vocation, technology, and education, jointly providing innovative insights and forward-looking development strategies for global vocational education. During the seminar, a launch ceremony for the inaugural issue of the VTE journal was also held.

"Vocation, Technology & Education" (VTE) (ISSN 3005-2157) is the first English-language vocational education journal in China, founded by SZPU, with the inaugural issue published in March of this year. As the first academic event after the establishment of VTE, this seminar was hosted by our university and co-sponsored by Scholar International Publishing Media Company.

Experts from universities, research institutions, and international organizations from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Japan, Norway, Turkey, and the Philippines, as well as representatives from domestic universities, research institutions, and publishing units such as Peking University, Tongji University, Fudan University, Nankai University, Xiamen University, Beijing Normal University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hunan University, South China Normal University, and young scholars from SZPU, gathered together to discuss the development of vocational education. The conference also featured live online streaming, with a cumulative audience of over 80,000 viewers.

Conference site.

During the opening ceremony, our university president and VTE editor-in-chief, Xu Jianling, expressed gratitude to all the experts and scholars who have cared about and supported the construction of the VTE journal and made significant contributions. He stated that since its establishment, SZPU has continuously innovated in educational concepts and talent development models, achieving numerous "firsts" in Chinese higher vocational education and being hailed as a beacon in Chinese higher vocational education. The school actively participates in global governance of vocational education and has successively established the UNESCO-UNEVOC Centre, the AFREG-TVCETC, the Global TVET Innovation Centre, and China's first UNESCO-UNEVOC Chair in TVET Digitization. The establishment of the VTE international journal is of great significance for promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese vocational education and global vocational education, which will greatly help the school to continuously improve its internationalization level of education. He hoped that the attending experts would actively offer suggestions, contribute wisdom, and make VTE a first-class international academic journal.

Attendees discussed development plans for vocational education.

The successful establishment of the VTE international journal is attributed to an international and high-level team of experts. Currently, the VTE journal has 33 editorial board members, 9 specially-appointed experts, and 2 executive editors. During the opening ceremony, Xu Jianling presented certificates to the attending editors-in-chief, deputy editors-in-chief, editorial board members, specially-appointed experts, and executive editors. Subsequently, Xu Jianling, together with Professor Gao Bai from Duke University, Professor Ladislaus Semali from Pennsylvania State University, Professor Huang Futao from Hiroshima University, Professor Claudio Boer from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, and Professor Marie Carpenter from the French Mining-Telecom School Alliance Business School, held a launch ceremony for the inaugural issue of VTE.

During the two-day conference, 13 "think tanks" from domestic and foreign countries conducted multiple theme speeches on vocational education. Experts and scholars shared new trends in vocational education development worldwide, focusing on new propositions in vocational education under the background of artificial intelligence. Topics covered skill formation and human capital, technological innovation and science and technology policies, occupational structure and labor market, vocational education and engineering education research, international development trends in vocational education, and more, with rich content and novel perspectives.

This high-level academic seminar has laid a solid academic foundation for the further development of the VTE international journal and formed a strong academic community atmosphere. The conference also held special discussions on the construction and development of the VTE international journal, where all the attending experts contributed their wisdom without reservation, further consolidating consensus and clarifying the development positioning, goals, and strategies of the journal, and defining the construction tasks.

In the summary of the conference, Xu Jianling stated that the VTE international journal will take this seminar as an opportunity to firmly establish development goals, continue to strengthen the construction of the expert team, expand high-level international manuscript sources, actively cooperate with international organizations, and continuously improve the editorial quality of the journal. The school will use the VTE international journal as a link to create a vibrant and inclusive academic community, tell the story of vocational education in China well, and make greater contributions to the development of vocational education in China and the world.

The attending guests visit the school.

During the conference, the attending guests also visited the BYD Institute of Applied Technology, the Institute of Future Technology, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Vocational Education Park.

(Vocational Education Institute, Cai Min, Qin Keying)