About Us
The Confucius Institute at Barcelona officially signed the establishment contract in June, 2008. Co-built by Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), University of Barcelona (UB) and Casa Asia, it is the first and the only Confucius Institute in Catalunya, Spain.
The Institute was officially put into operation in March, 2011.
Faculty: In 2014, there are 22 teachers and supporting staff in the Confucius Institute at Barcelona.
All faculty members are in charge of teaching: including 1 Chinese Director, 2 Chinese teachers (16 hours per week on average)and 4 volunteers (16 hours per week on average).
The foreign party has provided an area of 230 square meters as the office buildings and a foreign Director.
The foundation has employed 5 full-time staff and 9 part-time staff.
Education: Chinese language courses offered by the Institute have become degree programs in two famous universities and four advanced training classes have become academic courses for postgraduate students in three universities.
Chinese language courses have been developed greatly in primary and middle schools. At present, Chinese language courses are offered in 5 primary and middle schools.
The Institute has also established connections with education group of Barcelona and district bureau of education, which will further develop the Chinese language courses in primary and middle schools.
The number of registered students is over 1,000.
HSK: The number of HSK Test takers is 700, YCT 213, and KSKK 124. The total number of Test takers is over 1,000, ranking 3rd in Europe.
Cultural activities: In 2014, the Confucius Institute at Barcelona has held 10 cultural activities including: New Year performances organized together with Casa Asia, Sagrada Familia market activities in local communities, Chinese culture experience activities for Girona middle school students, inviting Chinese musicians in Spain to deliver lectures on Peking Opera, inviting Chinese artists in Spain and Chinese masters of contemporary art to hold exhibition of Chinese contemporary art, supporting the performance of Peking Opera version of Don Quixote in Barcelona, inviting local Chinese musicians to hold lectures and concerts, inviting Chinese experts in Spain to hold lectures on ancient Chinese science and technology and singing and dancing performances held by Confucius Institute Headquarters. All these activities attracted a total of 62,000 audience.
Academic activities: The Institute cooperates with local counterparts and universities harmoniously. Besides offering regular comprehensive courses and oral classes, the Institute also offers required courses and selective courses in universities. Every year, special courses focusing on both academic research and practicality, such as classic courses for language and culture and Chinese language courses for business trip, are also offered.
The Confucius Institute at Barcelona has held various conferences and lectures on economy, culture and Sinology and published academic writings and teaching materials.
Features of the Institute
Taking on the Form of Foundation: Adopting the form of foundation, the Confucius Institute at Barcelona is co-established by BFSU, UB, UAB and Casa Asia. The foundation is under the charge of a Board of Directors together with a local director and a Chinese director in order to build a harmonious and democratic Confucius Institute. A regular office meeting is convened every week where work reports are given by directors. Thus, information transparency and democratic decision-making can be achieved.
Composition of Board of Directors: The Board consists of a Chinese director, a local vice director, a Secretary-general and three members. The position in the Board is related to the position in the organization, not related to any natural person.
Daily Management: Daily management of the Board is run together by the Chinese director and the local director of the Institute. They also hold the position of co-directors of the foundation, who are legal persons that have legal, administrative, personnel and financial signing authority.
Coordinator Mechanism: Apart from the leadership of the two directors, a mechanism involving of director level coordinators is also set up to manage the personnel. Three local coordinators shall be selected and recruited, and shall be in charge of adult education, child education, project development and HSK Test.
Spreading Impetus Effect: Confucius Institute at Barcelona has become partners or signed cooperation agreements with all public universities (6 in total) in Catalonia. Its impetus effect has spread from Downtown Barcelona to the whole Catalan region.
Integrated Development of Teaching, Cultural and Academic Activities: With the help of each partner, the Confucius Institute at Barcelona has always been devoting itself to promoting the overseas Sinology researches in addition to Chinese language teaching and cultural activities. Dozens of seminars, forums, colloquiums and round-table conferences about Chinese culture, classical literature and economy and tradewere hosted. This year, an Economic and Cultural Summit will also be held. The Institute has become a leading organization of Chinese language teaching, Chinese culture promoting and overseas Sinology in this region. It has drawn wide attention from the government, the people and the society and has a high brand value.
3. The Development of the Instituteis Fast, Sound and Sustainable, Contributing to the Local Economy
The number of students has increased 130 times over the past three years.
The teaching staff has multiplied eight-fold.
The number of HSK Test takers increased 50 times.
Contribution to Local Economy: The Institute not only creates more than 10 job opportunities, but also establishes an active micro-economy, stimulating the local economy and helping Spain out during its economic crisis. Meanwhile, the staff appointed and sponsored by Hanban also contributes to the local economy with their expenses (rent, water and electricity, food, travel and shopping).
Sustainable Development: The Confucius Institute at Barcelona raises 62% of its operating expenses, which shows its strong viability and sustainability. With the additional financial support from Hanban, a considerable number of cultural, academic and social public welfare activities can be carried out.
The Institute Has Been Praised by the Local Government and Approved by Hanban
On September 25, 2014, the (Migration and Cross-cultural Administration of) Municipality of Barcelona gave a prize to the Institute on the Confucius Institute Day in a theater where a thousand people were celebrating the festival, to award it for contributing a lot to the spread of Chinese language and culture in Barcelona, to the mutual understanding between Chinese communities and Catalan society and to the merging of Chinese communities into the local society. Numerous reports about this were published by international media. At the Global Confucius Institute Conference at the end of 2014, Liu Yandong, Vice Premier of the State Council, awarded Confucius Institute at Barcelona a “Global Advanced Confucius Institute Prize”, highly approving of its work in more than four years.
Contacts
Address: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes 582, 2-2, Barcelona, Spain
Contacts: Angels Pelegrin or Chang Shiru
E-mail Address: fundacion@confuciobarcelona.es
Tel: 0034-932379269
Fax: 0034-932185114
(As of December 31, 2014)
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