Do you want to start a campaign to promote energy conservation? Protect your local river? Bring attention to climate change? Leaders at an organization in Beijing can help you make it happen—and they have already, for hundreds of student groups throughout China.
China Green Student Forum, based in Beijing, is creating new possibilities for future environmental leaders. Run by graduate students, this center acts as an incubator for university students to start their own initiatives on a variety of environmental projects, from recycling to climate change to monitoring of illegal wildlife trade. The goal: to empower students to act on issues of importance to their future -and the future of China.
Greengrants has been supporting Green Student Forum with small grants since 2000. Back then, this group was just starting and didn’t have the funds for an office or computers. Today, Director Fei Xiaojing and more than 20 volunteer staff run the organization. They work out of an office in Beijing that is stocked with resources for student groups and has space for trainings. There are more than 500 active members from around the country, many of whom have launched local youth environmental groups in their respectful regions. Each year, the organization helps jumpstart many new initiatives at universities nationwide. Driven by student interest, Green Student Forum is finding that more and more students want to take on environmental challenges—and the enthusiasm is leading to a new cadre of environmental leaders.
Green Student Forum has three primary program areas: an environmental education program to increase awareness about key issues like water pollution and energy use; a capacity building program to improve skills for students who are interested in starting up new groups; and a program to increase communication between students, non-governmental organizations, the Chinese government, and student groups outside of China. They also host a “green” resource library at their Beijing office and produce a quarterly newsletter with national circulation.
Small grants from Greengrants have helped to support all of these programs and many more. The success has been remarkable. One of the projects mentored by Green Student Forum recently transition to become an independent organization and has received two of its own grants from Greengrants.
This organization—the China Youth Climate Action Network (CYCAN)—is led by a coalition of seven student environmental groups. It is the first youth climate change organization in the country. In addition to leading Chinese students to take action to combat climate change on an individual level, CYCAN aims at a 20 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emission in select higher education institutions in China by 2012. The group is implementing the project in cooperation with 23 universities.
In July of 2008, CYCAN held the first national conference on Climate Change and Chinese Youth Action, drawing hundreds of participants from across China. A $3,700 grant from Greengrants enabled the group to create and distribute a China Youth Climate Change Guidebook to be used by university campuses to build student awareness on climate change issues. While the challenges are daunting, this group is at the forefront of a new movement in China to make climate change a relevant and meaningful issue for the next generation of student leaders.
New environmental groups in China face many hurdles—competition over resources, a lack of supportive spaces to try out new ideas—but thanks to the work of China Green Student Forum and its partners, embarking on new projects is a little bit easier. Through mentorship, trainings, and collaboration, these environmental advocates are leading the way to a brighter future for groups around the country.