Nowadays, the rich legacy of languages, customs, traditions, values, places, and objects crafted by human communities faces growing threats from a wide range of challenges, including urbanization, over-tourism, natural disasters, socio-economic pressures, lack of public awareness, shortages in protective technologies, and shortcomings in governance and management. To bridge knowledge gaps, encourage culture heritage science and technological exchange, promote sustainable practices rooted in global innovation, encourage youth mobilities, the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences initiated and held the First China-Europe Culture Heritage Science Summer School jointly with Spain (Science and Technology Office of the Embassy of Spain with support from networks Technoheritage - Spanish Network Science and Technology for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage and PTI-PAIS, Open Heritage: Research and Society, Spanish National Research Council), Italy (National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Sapienza University of Rome), UK (Nottingham Trent University) and France (Grenoble Alps University) from August 18 to 27, 2025.

This summer school attracted 21 international students and 16 Chinese students. It  featured talks on archeological science, the latest technological trends in heritage conservation and innovations in heritage science, delivered by 6 international experts from Spain, Italy, France, UK and Thailand and more than 10 Chinese experts, as well as hands-on activities -- including visits and interactions with academia and teams of experts in charge of conservation and restauration at iconic heritage landmarks of China, such as the Palace Museum in Beijing and the terracotta warriors in Xi'an. It also shared the research carried out in heritage science at cutting-edge research infrastructures operated by IHEP, such as synchrotrons (HEPS) and CSNS (China Spallation Neutron Source).

As part of the program, the Embassy of Spain and IHEP organized a specific bilateral Spain-China roundtable: Spain-China Dialogue on Science, Technology and Heritage: from Knowledge to Conservation with the aim of identifying areas of mutual interest for bilateral cooperation through keynote presentations followed by a debate.

This Summer School initiative, which was promoted and organized by IHEP, not only provided a unique platform for exchanging ideas, experiences and best practices between China and selected countries of Europe on culture heritage science research, conservation and restauration, but also served a good practice to boost student mobilities, which aligns with the sustainable development goals of UNESCO.

This initiative was designed and meant to be a long-term initiative rotated one year in China and the other year in Europe, dedicated to communications among young students and experts between China and Europe, raising public awareness of culture heritage protection, and promoting sustainable development of the culture heritage of humankind.