Posts Tagged ‘China’
The Struggle for Sustainability in Rural China: Book Release
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on November 11th, 2009
Source: Eanth-L, e-list for the field of ecological/environmental anthropology.
Image: boris van hoytema via flickr CC
Exploring the complexity of sustainable development within a rapidly changing nation…
Though China’s economy is projected to become the world’s largest within the next twenty years, industrial pollution threatens both the health of the country’s citizens and the natural resources on which their economy depends. Capturing the consequences of this reality, Bryan Tilt conducts an in-depth, ethnographic study of Futian Township, a rural community reeling from pollution.
The industrial township is located in the populous southwestern province of Sichuan. Three local factories – a zinc smelter, a coking plant, and a coal-washing plant-produce air and water pollution that far exceeds the standards set by the World Health Organization and China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection. Interviewing state and company officials, factory workers, farmers, and scientists, Tilt shows how residents cope with this pollution and how they view its effects on health and economic growth. Striking at the heart of the community’s environmental values, he explores the intersection between civil society and environmental policy, weighing the tradeoffs between protection and economic growth. Tilt ultimately finds that the residents are quite concerned about pollution, and he investigates the various strategies they use to fight it. His study unravels the complexity of sustainable development within a rapidly changing nation.
“The Struggle for Sustainability in Rural China: Environmental Values and Civil Society”, by Bryan Tilt
Green Schools in China
Posted in Models by Virginia on June 1st, 2009
Excerpt from ARIES (Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability)
China’s Green School Project is an initiative of the Ministry of Education of China (MOE) and is funded by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). China’s Green Schools Program, which started in 1996, is based on the international concept of ISO 14000 and has been informed by the European ‘Eco-schools‘. Since 2000, it has been run by the Centre for Environmental Education and Communications (CEEC) and their local networks.
The program’s key focus areas include whole-school environmental management and protection, EE curriculum and professional development, and greening of school grounds. Schools must undertake a series of steps before applying for Green School awards. Awards are categorised through a staged development process, starting at municipal, provincial and then national levels. To date, upwards of 15,000 schools have received one level of award as part of this program
The Climate Group Plans To Develop Low Carbon Cities In China
Posted in Sustainable Cities by fedwards on January 28th, 2009
Please find an abstract from a news story posted on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development website. More and more sustainable cities can only be a good thing!
The Climate Group Plans To Develop Low Carbon Cities In China
ChinaCSR, 19 January 2009 – The Climate Group has announced plans to develop 15 to 20 low carbon cities in China in the next three to five years to encourage the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and address the problem of climate change. The Climate Group said in a report released in Beijing that China would miss the best opportunity to retain its technology advantage and core competitiveness in the world market if it lets slip the opportunities brought by the global financial crisis.
Wu Changhua, director for Greater China of The Climate Group, said that as a path for development, the core aim of a low-carbon economy is to increase energy efficiency and change the energy structure. She said that this would mean cleaner, more efficient and lower green house gas emission for China. Wu added that besides big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, the Climate Group would mainly target second-tier and third-tier cities in China for the low-carbon initiative as these smaller cities provide more opportunity for development.
To read the full story visit the World Business Council for Sustainable Development website.