Guangming Daily reporter Su Yan Guangming Daily correspondent Zhang Yun
The canal is dazzling, and the water runs for thousands of miles. On June 27, the 2022 World Canal Cities Forum, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, opened in Yangzhou. With the theme of “Canal City Heritage Protection and Sustainable Development”, this forum released the “Canal City Implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – Yangzhou Sustainable Development Report”, and passed the “World Canal City Heritage Protection and Sustainable Development”. Development of Yangzhou Initiative.
How to protect, inherit and utilize the rich canal cultural heritage? How to transform it into a source of power for sustainable urban development? This international forum attracted more than 400 people, including representatives of canal cities from more than 60 countries, representatives of diplomatic envoys from countries where famous canals are located in China, experts and scholars in the field of canals, to discuss the protection and inheritance of canal culture in the world, and to seek cooperation and development of canal cities in the world. .
Promote living heritage
In the sweltering summer, the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou is full of tourists. This landmark project of the Grand Canal National Cultural Park, which integrates cultural relics protection, scientific research exhibition and leisure experience, has attracted nearly 1.2 million visitors within a year.
During the forum, the construction results of the digital cloud platform of the Grand Canal National Cultural Park after two years of construction were officially released. This is an innovative move that relies on 3D modeling, virtual reality, big data and other technologies to realize the online integration of cultural, ecological, industrial and other resources along the Grand Canal, and break through the time and space limitations of traditional offline experience.
Not long ago, the project of “Strengthening the Grand Canal” was officially recognized by the Jiangsu Lifelong Education Credit Bank, becoming the first non-academic education course open to basic education in China. During the summer vacation, a research activity in which Chinese and foreign youths join hands to swim the canal will start classes online and offline simultaneously.
“It is necessary to move from ‘cultural heritage protection’ to ‘cultural heritage protection’ and make the Grand Canal ‘live’.” said Shan Jixiang, president of the Palace Academy and president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, to achieve cultural and natural, dynamic and static, ancient Combining with contemporary, point-surface and linear, special and universal, material and immaterial, the canal culture is truly integrated into urban construction, people’s life, and the economic and social development of cities along the route.
“The essence of the Grand Canal culture is first reflected in the exchange and integration.” Huang Jie, member of the Development Committee of the World Canal History and Culture City Cooperation Organization, believes that the Grand Canal has been an important window for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations since ancient times. In the future, “the canal as a medium” will provide new inspiration for promoting the deepening of cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation among canal cities in various countries.
Consolidate the ecological foundation
From the ancient ferry in Guazhou where the building boat is snowing at night, to the Shiqiao Ship Lock where the wind is upright and the sails hanging, and then to the Sanwan Park where the waterway is curved and the shore is painted… On June 27, as an important part of the forum, “Canal Ten The selection of “Second Scenes” was officially launched.
To protect the canal, we must first build a solid ecological foundation. In recent years, Yangzhou has highlighted the concept of ecological restoration and urban repair, organically combining the protection of canal cultural heritage with the improvement of ecological environmental protection, the protection and restoration of famous cities and towns along the line, and the transformation and upgrading of the canal channel, creating a number of new green landmarks. While realizing the protection of the canal, the “ecological dividend” has been truly harvested.
“We must not only be based on nature, conform to nature, and utilize nature, but also add value to nature.” Pan Jiahua, member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Sustainable Development Research Center, believes that the infinite scenery of the canal is everywhere, providing possibilities for tourism and new energy development. . Like the excavation and utilization of the canal, this is a new way of adding value to nature.
“The construction of the canal is a vivid example of human beings transforming nature and benefiting mankind.” Turkmenistan Ambassador to China Barakhat Durdeev introduced his country’s Karakum Canal. It runs through the desert for more than 1,400 kilometers from east to west, providing water sources for the original desertified land, irrigating farmland, and greatly promoting local development.
The premise of sustainable development of canal city is the sustainable utilization of natural ecology. During the forum, Bai Yating, representative of the United Nations Development Program in China, released the “Canal City Implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – Yangzhou Sustainable Development Report”, and awarded Yangzhou “Canal City to Implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Model City” “. This is the world‘s first sustainable development report on canal cities, which will be promoted globally in both Chinese and English versions, providing a sustainable development sample for canal cities around the world.
According to incomplete statistics, there are 1,088 canals in the world, and more than 4,000 cities are located along them, accounting for nearly 30% of the world‘s cities. Therefore, promoting the sustainable development of canal cities is of great value and role.
Build an industrial highland
“Poetry Road and Painting Language”, “Fireworks March”, “Spring River Flower Moon”… This is the scene of a large-scale immersive night tour of Slender West Lake’s “Two Bright Moon Recalls Yangzhou”. Under the bright lights, roaming the pavilions by the lake, listening to the sound of frogs and cicadas, dress up the summer in Yangzhou like a dream.
In recent years, Yangzhou has actively built a new highland for cultural tourism in the Grand Canal Cultural Belt, attracting a number of high-quality canal cultural tourism industry projects to settle down. On the day of the forum, the Grand Canal (Yangzhou) Cultural Tourism Development Promotion Conference and Cooperation Project Signing Ceremony was held locally, and 44 canal cultural and tourism industry projects with a total investment of nearly 35 billion yuan were signed.
He Chunjun, Executive Deputy Mayor of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, introduced that in 2022, the local area plans to invest 22.5 billion yuan to promote the implementation of 18 key projects, and make every effort to create a Grand Canal cultural protection belt and a canal ecological landscape belt with cultural characteristics and the charm of the Lion City. , the all-for-one cultural tourism belt and the industrial belt for rural revitalization.
“The Grand Canal is a dynamic river of development, and the core of sustainable development of a canal city is the continuous prosperity of the economy.” Liu Huaiyu, a special researcher at the China Grand Canal Research Institute of Yangzhou University, believes that the canal city is facing multiple pressures such as population, resources and environment. , it is necessary to further promote the development of innovation and integration on the basis of authenticity protection, so that the canal culture can stir up more market flavor and smoke, and enter the homes of ordinary people.
In recent years, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, together with relevant departments, has formulated and implemented important plans such as the “Grand Canal Cultural and Tourism Integration Development Plan”. Jiangsu Province and other provinces along the Grand Canal took advantage of their location, held the Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo at a high standard, and launched cultural tourism products such as “Hundred Scenes of the Canal”, creating a successful experience in cultural protection, inheritance and utilization, and contributing to the protection of canals and the development of canal cities in the world. “China Wisdom” and “China Solution”.
“Guangming Daily” (10th edition on June 30, 2022)
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责编：杨煜 ]