On the afternoon of May 18, the Preparatory Meeting of the 2021 Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road (HANSR) Roundtable was held online. Sixteen representatives from 7 UASR member universities, namely Xi’an Jiaotong University, Liverpool University, Politecnico di Milano, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Benha University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Nazarbayev University, as well as the UASR Secretariat attended the meeting and discussed the preparations for the annual HANSR Roundtable and items on the UASR Virtual Summer Courses 2021.

Professor Dinah Birch, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, convened this meeting. After brief self-introductions by the participants, Livia, the representative from Politecnico di Milano, the rotating chair of 2021, introduced the tentative plan. At the same time, all participants had a discussion on essential matters regarding the time, platform, and call for papers and so on, during which Nazarbayev University, the organizer of the third Roundtable, offered suggestions based on previous experience. Professor Liu Lina from Xi'an Jiaotong University mainly introduced the summer courses and summer camp activities to be launched, which was highly recognized by the participants. The Secretariat of UASR stated that it would continue to support the preparations and conduct of the fourth HANSR Roundtable and make sure the event to be well promoted and organized. Then, the Secretariat made a brief presentation and discussed about the launch of the online courses on the subject of Heritage.

It is reported that the entire conference lasted nearly an hour and 15 minutes. The Heritage HANSR Roundtable has been held for three consecutive years. It was originally initiated by Xi’an Jiaotong University, Liverpool University, Nazarbayev University and other universities and adopted a revolving door organization mechanism. In 2019, the Roundtable was organized by Xi'an Jiaotong University, which focused on the theme of cultural heritage, covering multiple disciplines and fields. Teachers and students from different faculties, such as the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Human Settlements, the Faculty of Life, the Faculty of Law, and the Research Institute participated in the Roundtable. The interactive platform built by UASR has played an active role in promoting the academic development and internationalization.