Based on the difficulties in rural revitalization and development of Ningbo City, Ningbo New Rural Socioeconomic Resilience Research Base, a three-year research base project, with the combination of Chinese and Western interdisciplinary research capabilities and outstanding scholars of Business School and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, was established in 2023. Members of the research base are putting effort on proposing solutions, transforming research output, as well as providing high-quality decision-making opinions and consultation. The 3-year key projects of the base are listed as follows:
Since rural revitalization is the key task for rural development, the State Council not only promotes tasks such as food production, infrastructure construction, and poverty alleviation, but also encourages constructing livable, workable and stunning villages.
In 2023, two studies have been launched, namely "External Promotion of Ningbo Rural Stories and its Impact on Ningbo's Image" and "The Role of Digital Media in the Development of Digital Villages in Ningbo." Via the use of fieldworks, interviews, case studies, the research team has conducted research on the external promotion of stories in rural areas and their impact on the establishment of national image.
Meanwhile, with literature analyses, empirical studies, case studies, quantitative and qualitative analyses, researchers also explored the role and the effect of digital media in the development of digital villages in Ningbo. The main focus of the team is to study the use and consumption patterns of new media in rural areas (includes mobile phones, social media, Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo, WeChat, podcasts, Xiaohongshu, video, audio, apps, artificial intelligence, platforms, etc.); to understand how villagers obtain and disseminate news and information, participate in politics, discuss politics, and participate in the governance of digital villages through new media; to comprehend the way villagers view the role of new media in building sustainable villages, as well as the characteristics, reasons and limitations behind China's new media in the development in digital village.
In recent years, Ningbo has accelerated the strategy on "digital village", integrating new information technology along with the governance, services and development of digital villages as the goal of creating a city model of digital transformation and digital civilization has been clearly stated by the 14th Party Congress. However, shortcomings in the digital environment, the use of information efficiency, and agricultural industry factors has resulted an uneven development and widening gaps between urban and rural areas in Ningbo.
In 2024, the research team plans to conduct research on strategies in developing Ningbo’s rural digital economy and revitalize folk culture. Through using theoretical analysis of digital economy and obtaining data on the development of digital village, researchers are intending to to analyze the current development of Ningbo's digital economy, comparing the status quo from foreign experiences and cases, aiming at establishing strategies for the development of digital economy in Ningbo rural areas, and proposing strategies and suggestions.
Additionally, the Central Party Committee has put a great attention on rural cultural revitalization and regards it as a national strategy to facilitate a deeper integration of rural revitalization and rural cultural revitalization. Via using systematic literature analysis and multiple case studies, which guided by grounded theory, the research team is planning to conduct theoretical analysis on the innovation of rural handicraft industry, understanding the current state of the industry itself, summarizing successful experiences and cases, and exploring the useful strategies for Ningbo's rural handicrafts.
Current studies on the value conversion of rural ecological products have ignored the multi-level paradoxes within process itself, that contains the traits of long-standing, diverse, complex, conflicting but, at the same time, interdependent, which hinders the conversion of rural ecological products.
In 2025, the team is determined to explore the value conversion of ecological products in Ningbo rural areas, as well as the dual identities and rural revitalization of labors who returned working in their hometowns. The project will be conducted based on the organizational paradox model. Aiming at developing a theoretical framework, the researchers are going to review and analyze the existing literature and theories, investigate the status-quo of ecological products established in rural areas of Ningbo, and ultimately, proposing a plan for it. By exploring the digital innovation behind the management mechanism of paradoxes in the process of value conversion, the project is purposed to achieve a comprehensive path for value-added conversion and the mechanism to break through the obstacles.
In addition to the paradoxes in value conversion process, dual identity is an urgent issue to be studied and resolved. By exploring dual identity, the team attempts at understanding the way of guiding migrant labors in returning working in their hometowns. Having experiences living in the cities and the insight of the market and demand of rural areas, migrant workers are able to facilitate urban-rural integration, so as to achieve common prosperity. Through the use of approaches such as literature analysis, interview, survey questionnaire, ect., the research team determines to review and summarize the theoretical model of dual identity cognition, examine self-identity theory, investigate the current state of identity cognition of both migrant workers and returned migrant workers, as well as to interview outstanding cases of those workers who worked away from home. And consequently, proposing strategies and suggestions for dual identity recognition and facilitate the flow of migrant workers between urban and rural areas.