At 4:00 p.m. on December 2, 2025, the Hunan Normal University - University of Lancashire Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education in Physical Education held a Project Management Coordination Meeting in the conference room on the second floor of Hongjian Gymnasium. Members of the Joint Project Management Committee attended the meeting, including Professor Zheng Lan (Dean of the School of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University) and Professor David Grecic (Director of Research and Innovation, School of Health, Social Work and Sport, University of Lancashire), who engaged in a cordial and constructive exchange. Also present were Li Hao (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University), Ge Jifei (Director of the Asia Office, University of Lancashire), Wen Xiaorong (Senior Manager of the Asia Office, University of Lancashire), along with heads of relevant departments, program directors and faculty representatives from the School of Physical Education.
At the meeting, Professor Zheng Lan extended a warm welcome to the visiting delegation from the University of Lancashire. The two parties conducted in-depth discussions on seven core topics, including the CUPEST 2026 Academic Annual Conference, the development of transnational education, and teacher-student exchange programmes between the two universities.
The two parties reached a consensus to jointlyinitiate preparatory work for the CUPEST 2026 Academic Annual Conference. The conference will include keynote addresses, parallel forums and practical interaction activities. Both sides will invite leading experts and scholars from China and abroad, and a dedicated working group will be established to further refine the conference agenda, with the aim of building a high-level international academic exchange platform.
The two parties also agreed to continue advancing the integrated research on artificial intelligence (AI) and physical education. Future collaboration will focus on smart research themes, such as the application of AI in sports performance analysis and physical fitness monitoring. By integrating the strengths of China’s National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Physical Education with the UK partner’s digital sports resources, the two universities will establish a joint inter-university research team and collaboratively address key technical challenges.
In addition, both sides agreed to actively implement the work plan for the normalization of teacher-student exchanges. The confirmed plans for mutual visits are as follows: In the spring 2026, teachers and students from University of Lancashire will visit Hunan Normal University to participate in academic exchange activities, including teaching demonstrations, academic lectures and cultural exchanges programmes. During the same period, teachers and students from the School of Physical Education of Hunan Normal University will travel to the UK for a spring camp, where they will gain in-depth exposure to the University of Lancashire's curriculum system and campus culture, thereby realising two-way interactive exchanges.
The coordination meeting featured open, sincere and in-depth discussions, further strengthening the foundation of cooperation between the two universities. Moving forward, both institutions will implement each agreed action step-by-step, promoting the expansion of collaboration from teaching exchange to comprehensive cooperation encompassing scientific research and joint talent cultivation. Both sides expressed their expectation that this meeting will serve as an opportunity to jointly develop a model example of Sino-foreign cooperative education in physical education.
During their visit to the School of Physical Education at Hunan Normal University, the University of Lancashire delegation will also participate in a series of academic activities, including observations and research on smart physical education teaching across primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, an exchange meeting on student study-tour programmes to the UK, and joint teaching supervision conducted by the cooperative programme’s teaching and research office.
Editor: Guo Enkai
First-Round Review Editor: Peng Xiyang
Second-Round Review Editor: Zhou Yuan
Third-Round Review Editor: Mehvish Bashir
