On May 28th, the inaugural meeting of Xi’an Base of International Center on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspices of UNESCO (HIST) and the Conference on “Silk Road Heritage and Space Archaeology in an International Perspective” was held in Xi'an, and the Xi'an Base of HIST was settled in Northwest University.
At the opening ceremony, Guo Huadong, director of HIST and academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Sun Qingwei, president of Northwest University, signed on behalf of both parties the Agreement on the Establishment of HIST Xi'an Base, and Wang Zhanyhong, the deputy director of Shaanxi Bureau of Surveying and Mapping Geoinformation (SBSMGI), and Sun Qingwei signed the Framework Agreement on Strategic Cooperation between Northwes University and SBSMGI. Wang Changlin, deputy director of HIST Xi’an Base, announced the establishment of HIST Xi’an Base and the appointment letter of the director, and Sun Qingwei was appointed as the director of HIST Xi’an Base. Fu Bihong, Deputy Director of HIST, reads the list of HIST Xi’an Base Board of Governors and Committees, Wu Zhenlei announced the decision of Northwest University on the appointment of relevant personnel of HIST Xi’an Base. Jiang Lin, Secretary of the Party Committee of NWU, and Guo Huadong, were appointed to be the Chairman of the first Board of Committees and Scientific Committee of the Xi’an Base, respectively. Afterwards, academician Guo Huadong presented the letters of appointment to Jiang Lin and Sun Qingwei respectively.
The participating experts and scholars jointly unveiled the plaque for HIST Xi’an Base. Toshiyuki Kono, Honorary Chairman of ICOMOS, Gheorghe Yolaev, Chairman of ICOMOS Air and Space Heritage International Scientific Committee, and other famous Chinese experts congratulated the establishment of HIST Xi’an Base.
The establishment of HIST Xi’an Base is an important initiative of Northwest University to implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on strengthening scientific and technological innovation of cultural relics and the important thesis of building “One Belt, One Road”, and to deepen the implementation of the results of the China-Central Asia Xi’an Summit related to Shaanxi. The Xi’an Base aims to build a platform for international scientific research and cooperation in cultural heritage, explore the use of space information technology to empower Silk Road archaeology and cultural heritage protection, management and sustainable development, build archaeology with “Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, Chinese influence”, and participate in the governance of world heritage. The Xi’an Base will deeply integrate with the Collaborative Research Center for Archaeology of the Silk Roads, focus on remote sensing archaeology, deepen space archaeology, innovate the development of disciplines, and improve and innovate the relevant theories and scientific and technological methods in the areas of archaeological surveys, exploration, excavation, heritage monitoring and digital protection in the context of the archaeology of the Silk Road, as well as build a discipline system of remote sensing archaeology and space archaeology.
