I. Urban Programme
1. Beijing and Shanghai –
A. Development Education on Sustainable Living:
Supported Beijing-based environmental group Han Hai Sha‘s youth education programme, film shows, forum, translation of oriental literature and the publication of the quarterly e-magazine that promotes reflection on healthy life style and sustainable urban living. University student groups are the main target for the year round education programme that has generated discussion on issues such as health and modern life style, ecology, appropriate technology development, and self –reliant agricultural system. Since the summer of 2007, the group also works with a local school in promoting urban farming with the children.
Supported Beijing-based NGO Brooks’ bi-weekly discussion forum and website stories to promote concern among citizens and young people on social development and rural development in China. This project is extended due to the delay of the publication work on the experience of the two year forum. The project will be closed by May 2008 after the book is published.
Provided support to the Beijing-based Peasants Children Culture Centre on community-based pilots on nature education work for children from rural village and migrant worker community in the periphery of Beijing. Adopting a participatory approach, the project conducts regular nature education vacation camps and weekend learning activities for the children and the young facilitators team composed of university students, teachers and peer educators coming from their previous nature education programme.
B. CSA & urban farming initiatives:
Supported Green Web’s consumer education and collective organic vegetables and food purchase scheme with small farmers in Hebei. This Community Supported Agriculture Programme (CSA) aims to rebuild direct links between urban people and small farmers. A film on the experience is recently completed in April and Green Web is now working on the promotion of the documentary within the NGO sector and with the wider public through the internet.
2. Cross Provinces –
A. CSA and urban farming initiatives:
Provided facilitation, information, permaculture training, and learning opportunities among a group of community workers, NGOs, and farmers who are keen to develop alternative organic markets and collective purchase initiatives that aims to rebuild the direct links and trust between small farmers and city people.
PCD directly managed CSA internship project that aims to train up community facilitators for NGOs working on CSA, sustainable agriculture and consumer education initiatives. Permaculture training, cross visits, and attempts in small scale pilots are encouraged through the internship period. A small grant is given to help host organizations and interns to try out pilot initiatives on CSA.
The CSA partner in Guangxi, Ainonghui, has hosted visit from a CSA group from Hong Kong Tuen Mun Yan Oi Social Service Centre in Oct 2007. A publication on the experience of CSA in China and the CSA interns’ learning of the Hongkong visit in 2007 is about to come out in May 2008.
PCD has launched a documentation and media project that works on the development of a series of learning, documentation, publication and media work on the experience of the PCD initiated CSA network. PCD will work with KFBG, our partners network, farmer communities, and the CSA interns to embark on a series of write-shops to document attempts in revitalising traditional and innovative agricultural practices of ecological farming and permaculture. Documentation of case studies, development of local communication platforms within and outside the CSA network in the form of newsletters, webpage, group blog will be promoted.
B. Urban People participating in rural reconstruction:
Working with James Yan Rural Reconstruction Institute, which moved out from Dingzhou of Hebei in late 2007, promoted mutual help and environmental friendly rural living among farmers through training on cooperatives organizing; biodiversity farming; and the promotion of eco-architecture and culturally appropriate housing in rural areas.
PCD works with the Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme (KFCRD) from the Hong Kong Lingnan University in promoting a participatory action research on the experiences of women’s peace-work around environmental protection, sustainable livelihood and community building. 10-12 PeaceWomen from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and around 4 PCD women leaders from PCD’s SW project sites will be involved in a series of exchange, networking and pilots on concepts and practices around sustainable livelihood, balanced production and consumption, alternative marketing practices, CSA and fair trade.
II. Training and Civic Groups (Primary Approach)
1. Shanghai
Supported Greenroots Power’s training and curriculum development, reading groups, film shows, community library and citizen education programme in developing grassroots civic groups and community facilitators in the Yangtze Delta Region.
2. Nanning
An initiative to support an Nanning-based NGO, En Dian Cultural Development Centre to develop the initial phase of a NGO and facilitator development project in Guangxi. Workshops, regular salons, trainings and other cross visits and sharing will be organized.
3. Cross-provinces
PCD works with the Kapok Volunteers Network on a two-year support to develop capacity building support for NGO support platform in Guangxi, Yunnan and other southern provinces through regular consultation on programme strategising, training of facilitators activities, and the development of regional learning and networking between these like-minded NGOs and facilitators.
4. Internship programme
A. Sichuan:
In partnership with Sichuan Community Capacity Building Centre and 14 Sichuan-based NGOs, develop and implement the youth internship and youth training programme in Sichuan in 2006-07. The programme provides opportunities for a batch of 50 young people to develop sensitivity and skills in engaging in rural development work through placing them to work for a local NGO in a one year intern period. By the end of the two-year period (2006-08), a 3 year strategic plan with funding commitment from Sichuan-based INGOs will be developed.
B. Cross-provinces:
In partnership with Liang Shuming Rural Institute of the Peoples’ University in Beijing to operate a youth internship programme that aims to develop a team of youth facilitators working for farmer communities on selected themes related to the cooperative organising, development of community-based learning college, reintegration of rural youths into the rural reconstruction process, development of organic farming and the promotion of alternative markets. 60 university students participated and are working in a team of 2-3 interns in 10 selected rural communities.
In cooperation with the China NPO Network, to provide a small grant for the placement of 15 youth interns in NGO and volunteer groups in Guizhou and Guangxi that are working with rural communities. This phase II programme also aims to fine tune the operation of the management system, as well as to establish a local-based support network for the longer term development of the programme.
5. Development of Rural Community Facilitators and Training Curriculum:
A summary of training activities conducted in the past three years have been compiled for internal reference. The summary will be further substantiated with experience and new insights gained from on-going training activities. This forms the base of an evolving training curriculum for community facilitators. Training conducted in the reporting period covers the topics of community culture analysis and development theories. Members from project partners and young volunteers are the targets of the training. A workshop was organised for young facilitators to further exchange view and personal aspiration on community development. Four community workers from Taiwan were invited to act as resource persons. This is an initial step for the formation of a study group by facilitators to continue the learning, with the hope that they will become resource persons of training for a wider circle of facilitators.
III. Collaboration
A. Documentation of case studies on community-based health – A 23-month initiative to research, collate and write up practical cases in Southwest China that help illustrate the principles of “community-based” and “sustainable health practices. Two issues of newsletters covering cases shared have been published in 2007. Data collection of the 3rd issue will start soon. Apart from producing hard copies, relevant websites are liaised to enlarge the readership base.
B. Publication – `The Earth in Deep Thoughts – Reflecting Relationship between the Traditional Culture & Rural Construction’
PCD has published a Chinese book documenting the good cases of community cultures revival efforts and discussion on community cultural issues relating to livelihoods, identities, and rural urban inter-dependence. Experiences drawn from the PCD community projects in southwest China are reflected and compared with other initiatives on regional level. 2 cases from Taiwan & Thailand are also included. The book has received very good response from partners and from network at large.
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