On March 31, 2025, Igor SEVENARD, doctoral researcher of the Research Training Group GRK 2833 “East Asian Futures” delivered two sessions to the M.A. International Relations cohort at Nankai University in Tianjin. In the first, he presented the EAF programme and his doctoral research on the Chinese concept of ‘Community of Common Destiny’. The topic as well as the EAF project have been discussed lively among the students and with Prof. Yaohui WANG. In the second session, he provided a methodological lecture on research design and methodology in social science.

On April 18, 2025, he participated in Panel II of the academic conference “China and the United Nations: Promoting the Building of a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity”, held in conjunction with the 21st National Annual Conference on Diplomatic Studies at China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing. His comments contrasting UN norm innovation with China’s strategic pragmatism have prompted a lively exchange among participants and broadened his perspective on the domestic engagement with the concept of ‘Community of Common Destiny’.

On May 7, 2025, at Jinan University in Guangzhou, he served as discussant at the launch of Prof. Richard J. COOK’s new book, Asia-Pacific Secondary States as Kingmakers: Alignment Roles in the China-US Strategic Competition. His commentary invoked further discussion on the roles of other great powers beyond China and the US, the role of national identity and public perception, and whether engagement really is over.

In between engagements, he held informal discussions with faculty from various Chinese universities, collecting perspectives for further research. The three-city tour refined his research agenda, expanded his academic network, and contributed to the international profile of the East Asian Futures programme.