Introduction

The Environmental Design program at Nanning University is an important component of the "Cultural Industry Professional Cluster" within the university's "Six Major Clusters of Applied Undergraduate Programs for Local Industries". The major started admitting students in 2016 and currently has 504 enrolled students with 18 full-time teachers.

This program is a key undergraduate program at the university level and has received the establishment of a school-level design-oriented practical teaching team. Following the characteristics of Nanning University as an applied university and the spirit of the School of Arts and Design encompassing craftsmanship, the program aims to cultivate talents with four essential abilities: design creativity, design presentation, design production, and communication skills. It integrates traditional local culture with modern innovative design to cultivate high-quality applied talents who can meet the needs of urban and rural environmental construction and development in Guangxi.

Cultivation Objectives

This program aims to cultivate talents who uphold the party's basic line, adapt to social and economic development needs, and achieve holistic development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor skills. Students will acquire a solid foundation in the basic theory and professional methods of art design, as well as the principles and regulations of project planning, design, and construction management in the field of environmental design. They will develop creative thinking, design presentation, communication, and management skills relevant to environmental design. Graduates will possess a solid professional knowledge base, advanced aesthetic judgment, practical modern craftsmanship, strong practical abilities, and some entrepreneurial innovation capabilities. They will be well-prepared to work in interior design companies, landscape design companies, municipal gardens, and other public and private enterprises, engaged in tasks such as project design, design presentation, and project management as highly qualified and applied professionals.

Teaching Staff

There are two professors, three associate professors, one senior arts and crafts master, one senior engineer, one senior engineer, seven lecturers, two engineers, and one teaching assistant in this program. There is one doctoral degree holder among the faculty, with two currently pursuing doctoral degrees. The teachers possess extensive teaching experience, practical experience, industry resources, and relevant professional titles, including renowned experts in tourism planning, ecological and environmental planning, protection and development of ancient villages in Guangxi, and experts in project evaluation for science and technology projects and cultural tourism projects in the region.

Characteristics

This program strives to establish a dual-subject talent cultivation system through the integration of industry and education and cooperation between the university and enterprises. It leverages the Professional Construction Guidance Committee composed of the university, industry, and society to develop talent training programs and curriculum plans in collaboration with industry and enterprise experts. These programs and curriculum systems are designed to be closely aligned with production practices, cater to the development of the environmental design industry in the Beibu Gulf urban cluster, and meet the needs of local economic development. They also reflect the distinctive characteristics of our university's educational approach.

"Double-Teacher + Dual-Base" Teaching System: Industry experts are hired as part-time teachers to form an excellent curriculum teaching team combining full-time and part-time teachers. A teacher recruitment, training, management, and assessment system is established to systematically organize teacher continuing education, training, exchange programs, and practical exercises. This helps to continuously improve the practical skills and teaching abilities of the teachers. Emphasis is placed on practical teaching and engineering applications, utilizing social, enterprise, and school resources. Through professional laboratories and practice teaching bases both on and off campus, students are provided with opportunities for practical training and the development of innovative abilities. A student assessment and evaluation mechanism, in which both the school and enterprises participate, is established.

"Rural Landscape Architecture Design Research Institute + Master Studio" Teaching Model: This model aims to build both master teaching teams and dual teacher teaching teams, thereby maintaining a competitive edge in teaching resources. A core teacher team that caters to the needs of applied talent development has already been established. The "Rural Landscape Architecture Design Research Institute + Master Studio" is created to form a one-to-one and one-to-many teaching model, improving the quality of teaching and enhancing students' professional competence. This model establishes a studio system that connects the school with enterprises, classroom teaching with practical project experience, and professional education with innovation and entrepreneurship education. It effectively enhances students' abilities and qualities, enabling them to achieve the desired goals of talent development.

Teaching and Research Achievements

The teachers have achieved abundant research outcomes: they have received four teaching reform projects from the Guangxi Autonomous Region, four projects for enhancing the abilities of young and mid-career teachers from the Education Department, and one project from the Department of Culture and Tourism. They have obtained approval for 14 research projects at the university level or higher, eight educational reform projects, and two university-level core courses. They have also developed eight university-level demonstration courses. Teachers have guided students to win the silver and bronze awards in the Guangxi division of the "China College Students' Internet+ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition." In addition, they have achieved four-second prizes and eight third prizes in discipline competitions recognized by the Ministry of Education, with more than 30 awards in provincial-level competitions.

Talent Development

This program adheres to the fundamental task of fostering virtue and cultivating talented individuals. It proactively adapts to economic and social development, promotes the integration of professional education with science, technology, economics, and society, and cultivates innovative and entrepreneurial talents who have a spirit of innovation and a willingness to practice. Through innovation, it leads entrepreneurship, and through entrepreneurship, it drives employment. The major actively collaborates with industry enterprises, revises talent training programs to align with the goals of innovation and entrepreneurship education, improves professional teaching standards and evaluation criteria, and refines the requirements for innovative and entrepreneurial competencies. In doing so, it ensures that the spirit of innovation, entrepreneurial awareness, and innovation and entrepreneurial abilities become important indicators for evaluating the quality of talent development.