On October 1-2, the 2nd Asian Cultural Heritage Youth Forum, successfully concluded in Kuching, Malaysia, following a period of exciting exchanges and fierce competition. The event was hosted by the China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, and organised by the Asian Fund for Cultural Heritage Conservation, the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Tourism for World Heritage Sites, the Department of History of Fudan University, and the School of Tourism Management of Sun Yat-sen University.
More than 100 young student representatives from different Asian countries presented their proposals on heritage conservation and valorisation. UTM was represented by the Maximum team, composed of Chenyu Liu, Zhenyu Lv, Zimeng Zhu, Fei Nie and Ruirui Cao, the second-year students from Culture and Heritage Management degree programme, and they won the "Best Proposal in Technology Innovation" with their outstanding work and presentation.
After several rounds of rigorous screening and evaluation, a total of 20 teams from all of Asia were invited to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak province, Malaysia, to participate in the on-site full English presentation and defence session. Under the careful guidance of Dr. Gai Jorayev, the Maximum team successfully passed the screening and was invited to enter the final round of the competition. The proposals were reviewed and critiqued by a panel of judges from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries. Team Maximum’s proposal Accurate Protection and Activate Innovation proposals for Kaiping Diaolou and Villages—Protection of Cultural Heritage by Science and Technology was awarded the "Best Proposal in Technology Innovation". This proposal took cultural heritage site of Kaiping Diaolou and surrounding villages as an example, analysed the challenges and problems faced by current cultural heritage protection system in depth, and proposed innovative solutions for protection using modern technology at its core. The team members took advantage of the summer vacation to conduct multiple on-site investigations, interviews, and data analysis. They proposed using technologies such as 3D laser scanning, concrete hygrometers, X-ray detection, and digital modelling to accurately monitor issues such as humidity and erosion in the Diaolou group, and promptly identify potential risks in the Diaolou structures. In addition, the proposal also suggested the use of satellite positioning technology and legal framework to protect the boundaries of Diaolou towers. With the aim of better integration of the site into the tourism industry, they proposed using more informative digital navigation systems and 3D modelling technology, that would help to achieve a positive interaction between rural cultural heritage protection and tourism development.
In the defence session, the Maximum team members with their subject-specific knowledge, rigorous research attitude, and excellent language skills, won the admiration of judges and the audience. The judges highly praised their proposal, recognising its scientific solidity and feasibility, and emphasising that the group showed outstanding capabilities and potential in science and technology innovation.
The excellent performance of the Maximum team in the forum demonstrated our university's research and educational achievements in cultural heritage field. Although the honours were won by UTM students, the participation and knowledge sharing has given new impetus to Asia-wide collaboration of students in cultural heritage field, and the cultivation of young talents for admirable task of protection and utilisation of Asian cultural heritage.
It is hoped that in the future, UTM will continue to leverage its professional advantages and educational resources, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the international community, and cultivate more outstanding young talents for the study, protection and valorisation of world cultural heritage. This will jointly promote the prosperity and development of cultural heritage in Asia and globally.