Eighty percent of the population of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region lives in rural areas. As the saying goes, Guangxi is “eight parts mountain, one part water, one part land.” There are many barriers to sustainable rural living: land scarcity, desertification, ecological degradation, loss of forest and arable land, climate change and all kinds of natural disasters. Large numbers of villagers now work in the cities and are bringing urban mainstream lifestyles to rural areas. This has resulted in the disappearance of precious cultural traditions in the name of economic development. Everywhere “developed” seems to mean moving in the direction of commercialization.

The focus of the early projects of PCD in Guangxi was to promote participatory methods and support sustainable livelihoods, while introducing a cultural perspective. In this process, we have established solid collaboration with local partners. Later we focused on facilitating local experiments for alternative forms of sustainable living, grounded in reflection on culture and life.

Building on our past experience, our Guangxi projects will continue to focus on four aspects:

1. Eco-agriculture. Working with our partners and local villagers, we will try to launch eco-agriculture in a deeper and more multi-dimensional way. While facilitating local rural production, emphasis will also be made on building spiritual and affective links between human beings and nature.
   
2. Reflection and action on sustainable living. We will explore and use various means to facilitate local communities’ reflection and action on sustainable living, taking into consideration their concerns, such as education, health, culture and art, and urban-rural relations.
3. Nurturing local talents and organisations. We will give training on both practical skills and the nurturing of spiritual space, and will target rural organisations, local facilitators, grassroots organisations, students and our partners.
4. Building sustainable living networks. We will facilitate the exchange of ideas and practices by bringing together people, communities and organisations for mutual learning and support, and encouraging dissemination of beliefs and information on sustainable living.

Our current work in Guangxi includes: a project on eco-agriculture and beneficial urban-rural interactions in Heng County; work to restore traditional community organisations and culture in Jinxiu County; and more awareness-oriented projects, such as to reflect on culture, education and agriculture in Nandan County; to improve the natural environment and strengthen the spirit of mutual help in the communities of Lingyun and Fengshan Counties; and inheriting Zhuang Opera and developing community culture in Tianlin County.