The "Environmental Educators' Initiative Project", kicked off its third phase here Thursday, calling on more Chinese youth to work for sustainable development both for their homeland and the world at large.

The project, initiated in 1997, was jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the BP Company. It aims to embed education about sustainable development into the Chinese formal education system, making it an integral part of the education curriculum for 200 million Chinese schoolchildren.

"The project is now entering its most crucial phase," said Zhu Muju, a senior official with the MOE, "now is the time to put all the hard work and research of the last eight years into practice."

She said the project, covering 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, has established 12 education centers in teaching universities and has formed an expert group with Education for Sustainable Development capacities.

The project has so far trained 3,000 teachers across the country, and administered courses to more than 1.5 million students. The project has also set up outdoor environmental bases in Beijing, Yunnan, Shanghai and Chongqing.

Teacher Liu Furong, who is at a pilot school for the project in Beijing, said the project's positive impact on the students has more than enhanced their awareness of environmental issues, it has also increased students' general interest in studying with the help of the teaching methods in the project.

Dr. Gary Dirks, vice-president of BP, said environmental protection and education is very important to every economy, but especially to developing countries. BP started doing business in China in the early 1970s and supports China's sustainable development. It has committed US$2.1 million to the project in China.

Representative of the WWF to China Jim Harkness also expressed that the WWF will help China to facilitate sustainable development with technical and resource expertise.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2005)