UK profs explore China's sustainability options
Will Aaron
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Campus News
China villages could minimize waste and become more environmentally friendly, but UK researchers explained last night that attempts have failed so far, and future projects need to use resources the village already has instead of trying to make other sustainability models fit.
"A single universal model is not possible," said political science professor Ernie Yanarella on eco-effective sustainability. "What is needed is sensitivity to the unique and individual features of each village."
The symposium, entitled "China's Sustainable Future/China's Villages," offered several presentations on sustainability - specifically in China - and the initial research and findings of those involved: two UK professors and the director of the Oikodrom, the Vienna Institute for Urban Sustainability.
Yanarella presented "The Long March to Sustainability in China: A critique of the Huangbaiyu 'Cradle-to-Cradle' Project." The project tried to create an "eco-village" in northern China, conducted jointly by the McDonough Braungart consultancy and the Chinese-U.S. Center for Sustainability. The tri-staged project was deemed a failure, having never completed second stage objectives, Yanarella said.
He pointed out significant flaws with the McDonough Braungart approach, which worked with local resources and local capital. Most notably, Yanarella said, there was a lack of communication, and a lack of attention to local villagers and sustainable practices already in use.
While poverty is an problem in the area, where many villages' per capita income is as low as $300 a year, Yanarella said their way of life has not changed in hundreds of years - a very sustainable way of life.
"The villages, as a focus of rural development, work in China," Yanarella said.
As China moves to the leading industrialist nation, villages are the "appropriate scale for intervention in China by national political elites, and domestic and foreign scholars," he said.
Researchers have learned from the mistakes made by McDonough Braungart, said architecture professor Richard Levine. Instead of coming in as experts, they approached these villages as valuable sources of information that concerned parties could learn from, Levine said.
Learning from the mistakes of others is a part of the process, a step that hopefully will not be repeated, Yanarella said.
The symposium continues today, beginning at 9:30 am in room 230 of the Student Center. The event is free and open to the public. More information is available from the event Web site (http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/events/ChinasVillages.php).
E-mail news@kykernel.com
"A single universal model is not possible," said political science professor Ernie Yanarella on eco-effective sustainability. "What is needed is sensitivity to the unique and individual features of each village."
The symposium, entitled "China's Sustainable Future/China's Villages," offered several presentations on sustainability - specifically in China - and the initial research and findings of those involved: two UK professors and the director of the Oikodrom, the Vienna Institute for Urban Sustainability.
Yanarella presented "The Long March to Sustainability in China: A critique of the Huangbaiyu 'Cradle-to-Cradle' Project." The project tried to create an "eco-village" in northern China, conducted jointly by the McDonough Braungart consultancy and the Chinese-U.S. Center for Sustainability. The tri-staged project was deemed a failure, having never completed second stage objectives, Yanarella said.
He pointed out significant flaws with the McDonough Braungart approach, which worked with local resources and local capital. Most notably, Yanarella said, there was a lack of communication, and a lack of attention to local villagers and sustainable practices already in use.
While poverty is an problem in the area, where many villages' per capita income is as low as $300 a year, Yanarella said their way of life has not changed in hundreds of years - a very sustainable way of life.
"The villages, as a focus of rural development, work in China," Yanarella said.
As China moves to the leading industrialist nation, villages are the "appropriate scale for intervention in China by national political elites, and domestic and foreign scholars," he said.
Researchers have learned from the mistakes made by McDonough Braungart, said architecture professor Richard Levine. Instead of coming in as experts, they approached these villages as valuable sources of information that concerned parties could learn from, Levine said.
Learning from the mistakes of others is a part of the process, a step that hopefully will not be repeated, Yanarella said.
The symposium continues today, beginning at 9:30 am in room 230 of the Student Center. The event is free and open to the public. More information is available from the event Web site (http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/events/ChinasVillages.php).
E-mail news@kykernel.com
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