Amid growing global concern over ecosystem degradation, national parks are regarded as one of the most important ways to protect species and their natural habitats. In October 2021, during the first phase of the 15^th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), China officially established its first batch of national parks, including the Giant Panda National Park and the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park.

 The series of products titled 360° Exploration of China’s National Parks adopts a multi-media approach — including panoramic VR, H5, live streaming, aerial photography, short videos, and text-image combinations — to tell Chinese stories of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, emerging as a highlight of the COP15 news coverage.

 After the relevant products and topics were released on the Guangming Daily App, its  WeChat official account, and various communication platforms, the number of exposures reached over 50 million. Behind this successful integrated communication lies more than six months of planning  by the creative team and a round-trip journey of 3,000 kilometers. Inside the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, they carried out shooting and data collection with the help of technologies such as aerial photography and ultra-high-definition video transmission; behind the scenes, they adopted  interactive technical means combining H5 and panoramic VR for presentation. One of the key products launched—the panoramic interactive H5 Following the Footsteps of Big Cats —marked the first time that the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park in the form of panoramic interactive VR.

 When users enter the product page, they can immersively step into the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, listen to the voices of researchers, rangers and local villagers, and learn knowledge related to biodiversity conservation.

Industry experts have spoken highly of it: By comprehensively leveraging interaction and immersive experiences, this product advocates the ecological civilization concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, serving an excellent case of integrated innovation between new media technologies and high-quality news content.

 Recommended and guided by the teaching team of the course Converged Media Theory and Practice from the College of Languages and Communication, Beijing Jiaotong University, many students participated as core creators in the all-media reporting team of Guangming Daily to produce and launch the series of products 360° Exploration of China’s National Parks. The Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Platform for Aerial Reporting in Extreme Scenarios—a university-level premium course hosted and developed based on the course Converged Media Theory and Practice — jointly undertook the specific production of this integrated coverage with the Guangming Daily App. After multiple rounds of selection, students from the converged media course, including Luo Yixiang, Xie Shaorui, Zhang Xiaojing, Huang Qinwen and Jin Ge, participated in on-site shooting and post-production practices. Drawing on their professional knowledge, they made direct contributions to telling Chinese stories of biodiversity conservation and advocating the concept of biodiversity protection.

 “Participating in this coverage has truly brought me great gains. No matter how many times you memorize theories, it’s never as profound as experiencing the production process personally.” In the process of producing VR coverage products, the participating students integrated theoretical knowledge into practice, which honed and improved their professional abilities and comprehensive qualities. At the same time, they also realized the significance of communication while participating in major national theme reports. “The thought that the works we participated in producing will be taken to the COP15 meeting venue makes all the learning and efforts feel utterly worthwhile.”

 The teaching team of Converged Media Theory and Practice has long been committed to guiding students to integrate knowledge and practice in teaching. It has led students to actively participate in major theme coverage of the Party and the country, such as the National Two Sessions, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteers’ Participation in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aiding Korea. These reports have repeatedly made it to the hot search list and received enthusiastic social responses. The university’s latest virtual simulation teaching platform provides relevant teachers and students with training in aerial  reporting across multiple scenarios, and offers creative planning suggestions for interactive coverage based on cutting-edge research results. Media outlets have integrated high-quality report topics, release channels and technical support platforms into specific products. This cooperation has not only injected innovative vitality into integrated coverage of major themes, but also provided a practical platform for colleges and universities to implement ideological and political education in professional courses. It is reported that to welcome the second phase of COP15 to be held in the second half of this year, this series of reports will continue.