One of the greatest frustrations of mine is the fact that there is a dearth of environmental awareness in China, and few who are able to develop a program that gets beyond a small group.

It is honestly, one of the most difficult things for any organization to achieve, but in China, if you are not developing a program that is scaling into large numbers… then it is like building a green sandcastle to close to the surf.

Eventually the message is wiped out with the next tide.

However, I just watched a movie detailing the 2008 Green Long March, and I am excited.

It is a movie about the efforts of the Beijing based NGO Future Generations whose program, the Green Long March, was developed partnerships with the Ministry of Forestry and 50 universities to get thousands of students out into the field to (1) collect information on the environmental issues China faces and (2) to educate a large number of people about THEIR role within these problems and what THEY can do to improve the problems.

I am excited because it involves many elements of a program that I believe will have real long term impact:
1) Education
2) Activating students
3) Multiple markets
4) Strong government support

.. and most importantly,

(5) they are committed to growing this program past their current 50 universities.

2009 is a pivotal year for the Green Long March to build on the accomplishments of the past two years and enhance long-term outcomes along each route. In 2009 the GLM aims to:
* Mobilize youth and communities to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change
* Conduct national and regional training programs on key energy issues for student environmentalists
* Strengthen information-sharing across university environmental networks

To be clear, none of the teams were project management teams, nor were they under the illusion that they would fix the problems, but there is no denying the long term power of this program.

that through these marches, through these trips, thousands of students are being taking off of their cozy college campuses, traveling around the country, learning about the beauty of China’s diversity, cataloging its problems firsthand, and then returning home to tell their friends, classmates, and family.

They will carry these lessons forward with them into the companies they work with, and the families they raise, and that to me is the power of this program.

Click to learn more about the program history, its sponsors, its partners, or the 2009 routes