The 2020 “Blue Pioneers” program was officially launched recently. The program, initiated in 2016 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Paradise International Foundation and Yintai Foundation, and held for three consecutive years, aims to provide better growth resources for nurturing local Chinese marine conservation talent.

This year’s “Blue Pioneers” program comprise three thematic segments: fundamentals of marine science and theory of marine biodiversity, practical biodiversity field survey, as well as managing and operating social enterprises and non-government organization projects. In addition to the training courses, students of the current term will also be grouped into teams to design and carry out team projects. Students will also have the opportunity to conduct field research at home and abroad, with outstanding students given the opportunity to travel to the US for training.

On March 21, 2016, Mr Shen Guojun and Ms Jane Lubchenco discussed the training of marine conservation specialists in the “Blue Pioneers” program. Mr Shen is Chairman of Yintai Group, Founder of Yintai Foundation, and Executive Chairman of The Paradise International Foundation, while Ms Lubchenco was formerly the Administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In the same year, the “Blue Pioneers” program selected 15 outstanding students from among those studying for the Master of Social Enterprise and MBA at Peking University Guanghua School of Management, young people in the field of marine conservation in China, as well as students with marine majors. Since 2018, the “Blue Pioneers” program has been jointly organized by The Paradise International Foundation and Duke Kunshan University, and has invited many local and foreign renowned environmental conservation agencies to participate in its implementation.