Date 09.07.2019
Location Yunnan, China
The One University One Village Rural Sustainable Development Assistance Programme, launched by Prof. Edward Ng and Dr Li Wan, has won the United Nations International Green Gown Awards 2021 – Benefitting Society.
Combining academic expertise, knowledge and resources to improve villagers’ livelihood in rural China, the programme comprises village improvement work, bridge construction, and a new rammed-earth building system. The Post-earthquake reconstruction project of Guangming Village in Yunnan Province demonstrated the strategies of “high-science, low-technology” and the “local materials, local labour and local technology” principle, responding to the villagers’ needs in a strategic, systematic, and sustainable manner.
The International Green Gown Awards celebrate the exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the world and are endorsed by United Nations Environment and supported by The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), L’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) and International Association of Universities (IAU). Established as the most prestigious recognition of sustainability best practice within the education sector globally, the International Green Gown Awards provide benchmarks for excellence and are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
