School starts again and students from all over the world get together in Tongji campus. The Degree Programme on Environmental Management and Sustainable Development has enrolled 40 students totally this year, including 10 Chinese students and 30 foreign students from 18 countries. It is also the third time for the College of Environmental Science and Engineering to undertake the master degree program for foreign assistance of the Ministry of Commerce. 21 students are selected from over 200 applications with the academic background of environmental science, agricultural science, civil engineering, environmental engineering, and law and so on. Some of them come from state ministries of 12 countries (Ministry of the Environment, Forestry and Agriculture) and some of them are the project officials of international organizations.

On the afternoon of September 29th, 2016, the new Degree Programme on Environmental Management and Sustainable Development was officially opened. Ms. Du Zhaojun, Vice Director of Training Center of the Ministry of Commerce, and Prof. Xu Jianping, leader of Tongji University attended and gave welcoming speeches. Mentor Representative, 2016 Student Representative and 2015 Student Representative remarked respectively, putting forward their own vision and expectations towards learning and living life of this new semester.

From September 5th, Degree Programme on Environmental Science and Sustainable Development has carried out a series of collective activities, including many times of class meetings, Tongji campus tour, Mid-Autumn dinner and other activities. Through these activities, Chinese and foreign students began to understand the history of Tongji and the establishment of the Institute. Furthermore, they learn to make their own cultivation plan and gradually integrate into the research group life. On one hand, the international learning environment provides a diverse environment for Chinese students to internationalize their education. Meanwhile they can improve their research and communication skills as well as getting out of Tongji to face the world. On the other hand, foreign students can not only achieve academic success in China, but also they have the chance to learn and understand China's history, culture and life.