News & Events

On March 27, the Forum on Nature Based Garden City and Green Wel-being & 11^th Beijing Forest Forum, a parallel session of the 2026 ZGC Forum Annual Conference, was held at the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center. BUA is one of the five initiating organizations of the pet-friendly park project, with the other four including the Beijing Forestry Society, the Beijing Representative Office of World Animal Protection (UK), the Beijing Academy of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, and the Research Center for Ethics and Moral Construction of Renmin University of China, a key research base of humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education. Upholding the principles of complementation of strengths and equal, practical and efficient cooperation, they plan to introduce internationally advanced experience in pilot parks and explore innovative management plans that balance public interests, animal welfare, and urban ecology. Cao Zhijun, Vice President of BUA, attended the forum and signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Pet-Friendly Urban Ecological Parks on behalf of BUA with the other organizations. Heads of relevant colleges of BUA also participated in the event.

With the number of pet owners in Beijing growing steadily in recent years, issues such as pet activity space, harmony between humans and pets, ecological safety, and civilized and convenient services have become major concerns of the public. The project aims to build pet-friendly parks integrating leisure and recreation, pet activities, and science popularization, strengthen education on responsible pet keeping, explore an innovative governance path that balances public interests, animal welfare and urban ecology, and establish a national benchmark in this regard.

As a high-level application-oriented university with distinctive urban agricultural and forestry features, BUA has closely aligned with the development needs of the capital in the new era. In September 2022, it took the lead in enrolling undergraduate students majoring in animal science (companion animals) in China. In September 2023, it launched a postgraduate program to train companion animal clinicians. Through these efforts, BUA has gradually established an education, scientific research and talent training system covering companion animal breeding, scientific feeding, standardized diagnosis and treatment, professional nursing, and environmental enrichment. As an initiator of the pet-friendly park project, BUA, leveraging its strengths in veterinary medicine, animal science, landscape architecture and other disciplines, provides professional advice on pet ethology research, activity zone division, and safety management, actively engages in the design of pet-friendly facilities, and assists in volunteer training and public science popularization activities.

BUA will thoroughly study and implement the guiding principles of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20^th CPC Central Committee, stayed focused on the strategic positioning of the capital and people's needs, and further implement the Innovation-Driven Project. It will explore new approaches to industry-education integration and science-education integration, establish a scientific and standardized model for pet-friendly ecological parks with complete facilities, and promote harmony between humans and pets, so as to contribute its strength to building Beijing into a world-class harmonious and livable city and continuously improving people's well-being.