On 21 October, 2018, the journal Distance Education in China, together with the Capital Learning Society Research Institute affiliated with Beijing Normal University(BNU) and the editorial department of the journal Adult Education, published by the Book and Information Centre of Renmin University, jointly organised a forum called “Emerging Topics in Education”, the first of its kind, with the theme of "Building a Learning City in the Internet Era", in Beijing.

National lifelong learning is a cornerstone of urban development, and realising it in cities is the beginning of realising it in society as a whole. The internet has an important role in this, and the purpose of this forum was to address it by promoting research on the topic and its practical application to that goal.

Professor Chen Li, vice president of BNY, delivered a speech at the forum, and keynote speeches were given by Professor Zhang Weiyuan, dean of BNY’s Capital Learning Society Research Institute; Wang Dongjiang, head of the Vocational and Adult Education Department, Beijing Education Commission; Professor Zhu Hongqi, president of Beijing Open University; Professor Li Jiacheng, dean of the Lifelong Education Research Institute of East China Normal University; Professor Song Yifang, secretary of the Party Committee of the Community College of Changning, Shanghai; Zhang Zhupeng, researcher, and deputy dean of the Lifelong Education and Learning Research Centre of the China Adult Education Association; Professors Li Xingzhou and Feng Xiaoying of the BJU Department of Education; Yu Xiaojing, associate researcher and deputy director of the Economics Division of the Capital Social and Economic Development Institute, the Scientific Research Department of the Examination Centre of the Ministry of Education, and the Lifelong Learning Department of the Beijing Institute of Educational Science; Yuan Dayong, deputy director of the Institute of Education for Lifelong Learning and Sustainable Development; Yu Xiaojing, deputy director of the Economics Department of the Capital Institute of Social and Economic Development; and Dr. Xie Hao of the BNY Capital Learning Society Research Institute. The forum was also attended by members of the editorial team of Distance Education in China, OUC media group, as well as university teachers and students.

Feng Lin, editor-in-chief of Distance Education in China, and Tan Xu, executive editor of the discipline of education science of the Book and Information Centre of Renmin University of China, hosted the seminar.

A series of forums on this theme will be held on a regular basis, with guest scholars invited to provide their points of view.

By Feng Lin,OUC