New England environmentalists will have a unique view into the challenges and accomplishments of the environmental movement in China in June when Professor Wang Canfa stops in Montreal and Burlington.
The Woodbury Institute of Champlain College and Montreal’s McGill University will be hosting Prof. Wang, one of China’s leading environmentalists, to discuss the “Environmental Realities Facing China.”
Prof. Wang's work earned worldwide attention when he was named one of Time Magazine’s top 50 global “Heroes of the Environment” in 2007.
Business, community, and environmental leaders from around the region will be invited to hear Prof. Wang — who teaches both law and heads one of China’s most significant environmental groups — discuss the current challenges and accomplishments of his country’s environmental protection programs.
A public talk is planned at Champlain College on Thursday, June 4 at 7:15 p.m. at IDX Student Center. Tickets are $10 and $5 for students. To order tickets, visit https://secure.champlain.edu/wang/ On Friday, June 5, he will take part in a panel discussion between environmentalists, legal experts, and mediators at Champlain College.
China, the world’s largest country, has also become the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases because of its dependency on the use of coal to fuel its rapid economic growth. Organizers expect that environmental backdrop will help formulate discussion on sustainability, clean development practices, and the role of the legal system in protecting the environment during Prof. Wang’s visits to Montreal and Burlington.
Prof. Wang is a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and the founding director of the Center of Legal Assistance for Pollution Victims (CLAPV). He is one of China’s leading environmentalists, whose passion for environmental protection plays itself out in the daily effort to help ordinary Chinese citizens who have been victimized by the country’s fast industrialization and rapid economic growth. Since 1999, CLAPV has logged more than 10,000 calls and pursued over 100 cases.
Prof. Wang's visit is presented by The Woodbury Institute of Champlain College and McGill University, in collaboration with Suzuki Foundation, Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM)and the Hong Kong Business Association. Prof. Wang will give a public lecture on Tuesday, June 2 at McGill University, and will meet with faculty and graduate students on Wednesday, June 3.
Burlington's public events are sponsored in part by the Brian Bronfman Family Foundation, Bay and Paul Foundations, Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Crea and Phil Lintilhac, Seventh Generation, and the Institute for Sustainable Communities
Champlain College was founded in 1878, offering professionally focused majors. It has 2,000 campus-based undergraduate students on campus and is ranked in the top tier of Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the North by 2009 America’s Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report. Champlain offers study abroad programs in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. To learn more about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu
