From November 15 to 17, 2016, the fourth Nishan world civilization forum was held in Qufu, Shandong Province. With the theme of "Traditional Culture and Ecological Progress — Marching toward a Green and Simple Life", more than 250 scholars and guests from China, the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Italy and other countries and regions attended the forum. Zhang Rong, president of Shandong University and vice-chairman of the organizing committee of the forum, attended the related activities of the forum. The Advanced Institute of Confucian Studies of Shandong University provided academic support and undertook part of the conference affairs of this forum.
The opening ceremony of the forum was held at 7:30 pm on November 15. After the opening ceremony, the Starry Sky Amateur Symphony Orchestra presented a large-scale symphony concert with the theme of "Earth• Mother• Homeland" to the scholars and guests present, demonstrating the theme of dialogue between world civilizations by performing famous songs from the East and the West.
From 16 to 17, three topics were discussed during the forum, including ecological wisdom in different civilizations, ecological civilization and simple lifestyle, and ecological civilization and sustainable development. The former Belgian Ambassador to China-- Patrick Nijs said that each of us needs to go deep into our hearts, overcome self- inflation and egoism, re-establish the relationship between ourselves and others, and nature and all things, so as to return to nature and simple life. Gao Shuqun, deputy secretary-general of the Nishan forum organizing committee, said environmental protection would be top of the agenda at the event. Xu Jialu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress said that the concept of "green simplicity" and "green and simple life" are likely to become popular words or lifestyles all over the world in the future. Zeng Fanren, the lifetime professor of Shandong University, believes that the construction of ecological civilization is a highly practical cause, which must focus on action and start from everyone. Everyone has the responsibility and obligation of ecological protection. Furthermore, scholars have also explored the ecological wisdom of human beings from the perspectives of Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'is and American Amish lifestyle.
The forum also featured a sub-forum on women's rights, which opened on Nov. 16 with a focus on gender equality and female empowerment. Meanwhile, a global platform was established in Nishan to promote women's causes worldwide. The guests at the conference started a dialogue on topics of "women's role in building sustainable civilization", "gender equality and sustainable development" and "women's empowerment in response to climate change". Liu Chuansheng, top official of Beijing Normal University and vice-chairman of the organizing committee, said the establishment of the sub-forum and platform was aimed to increase awareness of women's rights protection worldwide.
On the morning of November 17, the closing ceremony of the fourth Nishan forum was held. The forum calls on people to believe in simple governance, care for the earth, respect different civilizations, and share a community with a shared future for mankind.
The Nishan forum is held every two years, three consecutive sessions in 2010, 2012 and 2014, inviting experts and scholars from different civilizations to have dialogues, which has made positive contributions to promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations, promoting the construction of a harmonious world, and enhancing the international communication and discourse power of Chinese culture.
