This interesting event took place last night in BJ (the last in the current series; series might continue later this year) with 2 speakers: 1 from Tsinghua on the design of the Olympic Park and 1 from Greenlink Kusters on Sustainable landscape design. A few notes follow:

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Elizabeth Economy, author of The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future , and fellow at Council for Foreign Relations gave a presentation at Howard University last year on China’s environmental challenges.. and it should not be missed.

Elizabeth Economy

When talking to someone from Chongqing, or someone who has spent a lot of time there, the topic of pollution will inevitably come up. It is the San Francisco of China (hills) matched with some of the worst water and air pollution around. But, as I recently found out through the World Bank report Chongqing: A More Livable City, there has been an effort to change this, and changes for the good are occurring.

Starting in 2000, a World Bank-financed project backed the construction of a vast collection network intercepting sewage before it pollutes the rivers and channeling it towards two new large wastewater treatment plants a few kilometers from the city center. More than 900,000 cubic meters of wastewater are now treated each day

and according to the report

in 2006, data indicated that 90% of the river water in Chongqing city met class II drinking water source standards and 100 % of the water met class III standards (on a scale of I to V, where III is still safe for drinking after treatment). The figures were the best recorded over a 10-year period (In 2000, for example, only 30% of the water met class II water source standards.)

now to be honest, I am not sure i would buy into the readings 100% (and I defiantely would not drink the water), but through this program it is clear that improvements have been made at the source - something very important. the next step would be to replace the water pipes from the treatment facilities to the tap… something that Shanghai is currently in the process of. to learn more about the business of city water treatment, I suggest reading the Eurobiz article The Business of Water and visit the Veolia Website. They have been very active in China

Another submission following the the China’s Green Beat field team training, this four and a half minute clip is very interesting. One of the most beautiful cities in China, Kunming is well known for its weather, its flowers, and its people. I ahve made several trips to the city, and enjoyed everyone… even with its horrific traffic. The topic of this clip, no car days, is something that many in Beijing are going to learn about very soon as they prepare for the Olypmics.

on July 12, Next Step Shanghai will bring together members of Roots & Shoots and JUCCCE to discuss the Green movement. to learn more, you can go to their site here . to RSVP send an email to RSVP@nextstepshanghai.com