Waterschool China
As of 2017, 101 primary and secondary schools from across 12 provinces have been established as Water Schools in four key river basins across China: the Yangtze River, the Pearl River, the Yarlung Tsampo River and the Hai River. Over 150,000 students, teachers and community members have participated in the project.

In 2017, over 300 pilot school activities focusing on water protection have been implemented and four regional teacher training and exchange workshops was held. The Chinese version of The Swarovski Waterschool Global Teaching and Learning Material is now finished.

Climate Change Education
Climate Change Education Project focuses on developing educational materials and teacher training in universities and middle schools in 6 areas of China to help establish a foundation for the future Climate Change Education effort.

In 2017, four universities and 14 pilot schools from five different regions are participating in the project. Five regional workshops/meetings have been held and school activities are being implemented on the topic of climate change. Around 13,614 kids and teachers directly took part in these activities which have involved 39,023 parents and community members indirectly.

Bazhu Community Conserved Area Development
Bazhu is a small Tibetan village in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, China. Bazhu is situated in the Three Parallel Rivers region and possesses enormous natural resources. In order to protect Bazhu’s natural and cultural resources, the Bazhu Community Conserved Area Development Project was implemented since 2013 with the support of the UNDP GEF SGP and other donors, whilst a three year program on Sustainable Community Management of this Conserved Area also wrapped up in 2017.

Over the past four years, series of training workshops were organized, including forest and water conservation, eco-tourism, and Tibetan traditional handicrafts. Over 2000 community people and 180 families were engaged. In addition, the project provided financial and in-kind support to develop community-led sustainable agriculture and protect the local environment. Supported by the Project, three forest regions totaling 9 square kilometers in area and spanning the 8 sacred mountains surrounding Bazhu village have been designated as key areas of the Bazhu Community Protection Area. This year has seen collation of media and case studies about the project as well as a variety of workshops and eco-agriculture projects.

The Road Safety Education
As cars have become ubiquitous in cities around China, traffic accident has become one of the leading causes of death. The Road Safety Education Project aims to educate young people and their families on road safety and reduce the number and severity of traffic accidents.

The Project involves 8 primary schools, one secondary school and one university in three cities across China: Chongqing, Wuhan and Shangri-la. Through related education activities, students will increase their knowledge of traffic safety, become familiar with related laws and regulations and form safe traffic habit.

In 2017, three project training workshops were organized, each training 20 teachers. A 2-day training course on road safety education was developed. The course includes road safety lectures, case studies and serval interactive games on road safety education. The project schools each carried out a range of activities.

Photo credit: RCE Greater Shangri-la