The 4th China-UK BEP-Standards Programme Workshop on the standard experimentation of SMC

The fourth Sino British Working Conference on "pilot international standards for sustainable development of small and medium sized cities" was held from March 8 to March 12, 2021 in the form of network conference. Mr. Geoff Visser was the host of this four-day meeting. Chinese and British standardization experts had in-depth exchanges and discussions on the progress and problems of their respective pilot projects with four pilot cities of international standards for sustainable development in small and medium-sized cities, including Sino Singapore Tianjin eco city, Guangzhou University City, Guangzhou Huangpu Development Zone and Qujiang District of Quzhou, as well as officials in charge of technical support agencies.

Representatives from the British side included Geoff Visser as representative of the Sino-British international standards cooperation project, Adele Hu as representative of BSI, and Michael mulquin, David Jackman, Andreea vieru, Liz mills, Trevor Gibson, etc.

The Chinese representatives includind Dr. Yang Feng and Dong Shanfeng, registered experts of ISO/TC268, and Xing Liqiang, director of Institute on Standardization of Public Safety   of CNIS.

On March 8, representatives of Tianjin eco city first introduced the latest progress of international standard pilot and international standard preparation for small and medium-sized cities. The two sides held discussions on Sponge City, land improvement, social organizations' participation in governance and other issues. In particular, they shared British experience in the publicity and popularization of urban sustainable development, and in attracting young and middle-aged groups to participate in urban construction; In addition, British experts also talked about the standards proposed by the UK in terms of power supply and disaster prevention, so as to ensure the stable supply of core service facilities under extreme conditions; The Chinese side also said that the sponge city in China not only includes ecological significance such as disaster prevention and water resources management, but also includes resilience construction in economy and energy; Finally, Tianjin eco city also actively invited British experts to participate in the preparation of the international standard ISO 37111 for small and medium-sized cities, hoping to provide reference cases in the world.

On March 9, representatives of Guangzhou University Town made a pilot application report focusing on ecological environment governance, innovation and entrepreneurship. British experts suggest that the maturity management of ISO / TS 37107 can be used to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages, so as to help cities understand the development situation in various fields; The two sides also discussed how to carry out strategic management, how to have citizen centered service management, and how to manage digital and physical resources; In addition, the two sides also held preliminary discussions on the possibility of cooperation in other projects, and hoped that the next working meeting could make new progress in urban brain and urban information construction.

On March 11, representatives of Qujiang District of Quzhou attended the meeting. After listening to the progress of the pilot work, British experts introduced the maturity models of ISO/IEC30146 (jointly developed by China and Britain) and ISO37107, and provided suggestions on the weak parts, priorities and key work of cities, so as to help cities establish relevant indicators. Chinese experts also suggested that Qujiang District should try the ISO 37111 which is being developed, including a tool specially for the development of small and medium-sized cities; We can also pay attention to the new standards currently in the proposal stage in TC 268 WG4 for the establishment of urban management information framework.

On March 12, representatives of Guangzhou Huangpu Development Zonediscussed with British experts on the problems encountered in the application of the standard. British experts said that it usually takes three to five years for cities to evaluate the performance of indicators in the initial stage, so we can try to implement PDCA (plan, do, check and act) cycle in a shorter period, pay attention to specific indicators in a specific period of time, and constantly optimize the indicators, so as to achieve balanced urban development. Chinese experts also suggested that in the process of Applying ISO 37108, we should focus on three areas: sustainable built environment, smart city infrastructure and industrial agglomeration.

Both China and the UK sides said that they would continue to pay attention to the progress of the pilot cities after the meeting, and hope that the next meeting will continue to share the innovative experience and stories of small and medium-sized cities on the path of standardization development.