About the Project

In China, natural geologic conditions relating to the development of safe drinking water sources, as well as more widespread domestic and industrial air pollution from coal burning, have profound impacts on public health. Millions of people suffer from mild to serious health problems and limits to economic development that result from widespread environmental problems. While remarkable economic growth and related quality of life impacts have to some degree transformed China’s urban eastern provinces, tens of millions of rural southwestern residents survive below the country’s poverty line. A major factor in bringing economic prosperity, obviously in concert with the improvement of public health, lies in the implementation of environmental solutions for air and water quality problems in these rural areas. This goal has been clearly identified in recent five-year plans of the Chinese government, but considering the breadth and severity of the challenges, along with a widespread lack of resources, particularly in the southwest rural provinces, comprehensive solutions are not immediately apparent.

Researchers at Western Kentucky University have been, for the last fifteen years, working with Chinese scientists and a number of U.S. government agencies toward finding sustainable solutions for the future of water and air quality in China. In October of 2006, the research efforts of WKU's Hoffman Environmental Institute and WKU's Institute for Combustion Science and Environmental Technology united to form of China Environmental Health Project (CEHP). Funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development's Regional Development Mission/Asia with matching funds coming from partner organizations, this initiative will be carried out in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholar's China Environment Forum, the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), and two Chinese universities, the Anhui University of Science and Technology (AUST) (Huainan, Anhui) and the Southwest University of China (SWUC) (Beibei, Chongqing).

The purpose of the project is to develop US-Chinese University partnerships to enhance the quality of public health in China by building sustainable capacity through the engagement of Chinese scientists, students, local governments, and citizens in hands-on training as well as working with Chinese environmental NGOs to gain experience in the community outreach necessary to implement this training.

Specifically, programs have been designed to improve environmental/ human health conditions with regard to water supply and quality, and air quality. The project strives to develop sustainability by not only providing training and improved research infrastructure to individual students and scientists, but also by working to “train the trainers”: (1) developing and enhancing university curricula in, for example, GIS and hydrogeology, and (2) working with our partners to develop instructional programs for delivery to Chinese school teachers, local government officials, and private citizens in connection with our demonstration activities in Chongqing, Anhui, and Yunnan.