School of Ecological Technology and Engineering (SETE) of Shanghai Institute of Technology (SIT) is closely integrated with the national strategy of ecological civilization, and pays attention to the interdisciplinary studies, innovation and the society needs for a better life. SIT is the only university in Shanghai which offers four undergraduate programs of Landscape Gardening, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture and Ecology at one school. Our university has become an important base for the high-level personnel training and scientific research in horticulture, landscape architecture and ecological engineering in the eastern metropolitan area of China.

    SETE was established in 2008 and Professor Wu Aizhong was appointed as Dean of SETE, who was the counsellor of the Shanghai Municipal Government, the member of the Shanghai Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Party Secretary and Dean of the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences. In order to meet the needs of the rapid development of urban horticulture for high-level application-oriented talents in Shanghai, the school offered two undergraduate programs of Landscape Gardening and Horticulture at the beginning. In 2011, the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education adjusted the discipline system, in which Landscape Architecture and Ecology were classified as first-level disciplines. According to the needs of discipline development, SIT established the undergraduate program of Landscape Architecture in 2012 and the undergraduate program of Ecology in 2013. In the same year, SETE was authorized to offer master’s degree in Ecology by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. Currently, the school offers master’s degree programs in Ecology and Landscape Architecture and bachelor’s degree programs in Landscape Gardening, Horticulture, Landscape Architecture and Ecology. Among them, Landscape Architecture is the pilot program of application-oriented undergraduate course and high-level successive secondary vocational education and undergraduate education in Shanghai. Horticulture has been selected into the plan for building the first-class undergraduate project in Shanghai, which has distinctive characteristics for high-level application-oriented talents training.

Our school has strong scientific and technological innovation capability. SETE has 55 full-time research and teaching staff, including 12 professors, 17 associate professors, 4 PhD supervisors and 29 master supervisors. Over 90% of faculty have doctoral degree and 85% of them have overseas experience. More than 80% of them are double position teachers.

The system of scientific research and high-end think tank platform in SETE is complete, and research outputs are remarkable. SETE has the National Hemerocallis Germplasm Resource Bank, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Urban Road Ecological Technology, A University Think Tank of Shanghai Municipality and The Research Institution of Beautiful China & Ecological Civilization. SETE is also an attached unit of associations, including the Garden Plant Secretariat of Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture, National Biochar Technology & Innovation Union, Shanghai Association for Landscape Ecology and Floral Design Committee. The school has built a first-class botanic garden and a modern greenhouse compared to other domestic universities, which have been named “Citizen self-cultivation action” by Shanghai Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee, “Shanghai innovation & entrepreneurship base” by Education Commission of Shanghai Municipality and “Shanghai education base” by Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality. SETE also has several research institutions at school level, including Institute of Urban Ecological Environment, Institute of Garden Plant, Institute of Landscape Architecture Planning and Design, as well as Institute for Flower and Pomology industry in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, Honghe, Yunnan province and Yanling, Henan province. In recent years, more than 50 research projects were approved at national, provincial and ministerial level, including national key Research & Development projects, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality and Agriculture Commission of Shanghai Municipality, and research funding obtained reached over 60 million RMB. Teaching staff have published more than 300 papers with over 200 scientific manuscripts in SCI/EI. More than 30 new flower varieties were cultivated and the certificates of more than 20 new plant varieties have been granted. One scientific achievement was second prize winner of science and technology progress award and three were third prize at provincial and ministerial level, and more than 20 accomplishments received the science and technology awards from other local governments.

SETE has established academic exchange and cooperation with the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fudan University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Tongji University, Nankai University and East China Normal University, and SETE has signed a joint training program with the University of Idaho. At the same time, the school has a long-term cooperation with Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Engineering Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Remediation Technologies, National Joint Research Center for Yangtze River Conservation, Shanghai Municipal Planning and Design Research Institute Co. Ltd. (Shanghai Chengtou Group Corporation), Shanghai Research institute of Chemical industry Co. Ltd., Shanghai Landscape Engineering Co. Ltd., Jiangsu Firefly Environmental Science Technology Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Flower Arranging and Flower Association. Meanwhile, our school has over 30 off-campus industrial internship programs.

Looking to the future, SETE has a strong commitment to ecological civilization, and leverages our strengths of interdisciplinary studies. Our school also focuses on the advanced research in the fields of landscape architecture, horticulture and ecological environment and the goal of building a Beautiful China. On the basis of the needs of green development in the metropolitan area, SIT, as the applied university, tries to rely on reform and innovation to make strong moves in the strategy of rural vitalization and cultivating versatile talents in horticulture. Our school upholds the concept of fostering character and civic virtue and thus nurtures a new generation of young people who have all-round moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetical grounding with a hard-working spirit. SETE gives full play to the role of University think tanks to social policy, education and society services and provides talents training and technological support for Belt and Road and the implementation of the national strategy for the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.