China News Service, Chengdu, November 10 (Wang Liwen) The 2026 "Sixth Chengdu-Chongqing Science Popularization Tour" event was held in Chengdu on the 10th. At the event site, the "List of Science Popularization Research Routes and Scenarios for Teenagers in Chengdu and Chongqing Regions" was officially released. It launched a total of 30 research routes and 40 special points in Chengdu and Chongqing, covering fields such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, low-altitude economy, nature protection, disaster prevention and reduction, modern agriculture, etc., to promote the co-construction and sharing of science popularization resources in the two places, and provide more choices for young people to carry out scientific inquiry and participate in science popularization practice.
Event site. Photo courtesy of Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology
Scientific and technological innovation and science popularization are the two wings of achieving innovative development. With the theme of "Science Popularization Empowers Twin Cities and Co-education to Create the Future", this event is co-sponsored by Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau, Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau, Chengdu Science and Technology Promotion Center, Chongqing Science Popularization Base Federation, Chengdu Science and Technology Jointly organized by the Popular Education Base Federation and Science Consulting Magazine, more than 130 representatives from more than 80 science popularization bases in Chengdu and Chongqing participated in the event. Representatives from relevant departments in Deyang, Meishan, and Ziyang were present to communicate and work together to build a national science popularization innovation demonstration highland.
The science popularization resources in Chengdu and Chongqing are rich and highly complementary. The "List of Science Popularization Research Routes and Scenarios for Teenagers in the Chengdu-Chongqing Region" connects key industrial chains in the two places such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, smart manufacturing, and modern agriculture, as well as science popularization resources and scenes in key areas such as life and health, disaster prevention and reduction, and natural ecology. It promotes the further opening of resources such as science popularization venues, scientific research institutes, and universities to young people, and extends science education from the classroom to the front lines of scientific research, industrial scenes, and the natural environment.
Rich popular science resources require high-quality research product design to carry them. Yang Yi, deputy director of the Science Popularization Department of Chongqing Zoo, introduced that the park’s nighttime study project “Animal Night Life Observation” has been carried out for 14 years. It breaks the inherent model of daytime visits to the park and relies on real night scenes to conduct animal behavior observations. A total of more than 500 offline activities have been carried out, with more than 50,000 teenagers participating offline, and online related content has attracted more than one million followers.
Su Nuo, representative of the Chengdu Science Popularization Base of the Chinese Optical Society, said that the base relies on the resources of scientific research institutes and universities in the province's optoelectronics field to transform cutting-edge optoelectronic technologies into science popularization content suitable for young people's hands-on experience. "We hope to bring optoelectronics specialty science courses to Chongqing campuses, and at the same time invite young people from Chongqing to study in Chongqing and experience the scientific research scene immersively," Su Nuo said.
How can popular science resources be truly transformed into educational results? Hu Hang, director of the Institute of Science Education of Southwest University, believes that science popularization should not only stop at the "truth-seeking" at the scientific level, but also extend to the "seeking results" at the technical level, "seeking success" at the engineering level, and "seeking novelty" at the scientific and technological level. It is recommended that public training bases and key laboratories with wide coverage and strong public welfare in vocational colleges should be included in the science popularization system to form a joint effort between museums and schools to educate people. Chengdu and Chongqing should turn science popularization "activities" into "mechanisms" through lists, products, and exhibitions.
During the special exchange session, Zheng Ji'an, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Chongqing Science and Technology Museum, introduced the practice of "museum-school symbiosis". Through the collaboration of curriculum, teachers and mechanisms, more than 160 science courses in 6 categories have been developed, and cooperation has been established with nearly 400 schools. A total of nearly 600,000 primary and secondary school students have been served. Yuan Ying, director of the Sichuan STEAM Science and Technology Innovation Education Science Popularization Base Office, proposed based on the concept of "learning by doing" that science education should focus on students' independent inquiry, so that students can not only do things by themselves, but also be able to explain the basis for their judgments.
From understanding the "national treasure", to visiting Rong enterprises to understand industrial innovation, to visiting scientific research institutions and experiencing cutting-edge technology, universities and colleges open their doors, and science and technology enterprises open their space for science popularization. The Shuangcheng science popularization cooperation is transforming young people from recipients of scientific knowledge to participants in scientific inquiry, and cultivating the ability to discover, analyze and solve problems in practice. (over)
