At the invitation of the U.S. Department of State, E&EM Lead Professor spent the morning of June 23, 2009.briefing a delegation of senior officials from the People’s Republic of China on sustainable development and environmental protection.
The delegation of city planners, environmental protection officials and regional leaders was participating in a program to explore sustainable development and environmental protection initiatives in the United States. The program included coverage of U.S. agencies and policies for environmental protection, federal and state natural resource management, nonprofits and businesses working in sustainable development planning, public education programs, green building, energy efficiency, pollution control, waste management and natural area conservation.
The Chinese delegation was invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The program was arranged by World Learning Visitor Exchange Program.
The program, which was presented with simultaneous translation, covered the policies of the federal and state governments in natural resources management and environmental protection to build long-term collaborative programs on sustainable urban planning, air quality control and water resources management. It was undertaken to develop a broader understanding of the relationship between the U.S. federal government and its regional offices, as well as the relationships with the state environmental protection agencies and other federal and local environmental regulatory bodies.
The program also examined the roles and regulation of government agencies, nonprofits and the private sector in sustainable development planning with a focus on how they interact and resolve conflicts of interest and other ethical dilemmas, covered urban planning policies and environmental protection programs which support sustainable communities, including water management, solid waste disposal, air quality protection and ecological development.