Region: China
Author: Lu Hongyan, Environmental Volunteer Association
Consortium Member: Sichuan University Environmental Education Center
Status: Funded and Ongoing
Budget: $3000
Collected: $3000
Needs: $0
Result: To support Chinese university student organizations as they develop and carry out environmental improvement projects on their campuses or in their communities. The "Mid-Term Reports" [July 8, 2002; April 19, 2002] show the evolution of this project.
Donors: Ford Foundation [March 2002], through the Virtual Foundation's Regional Grantmaking Program.
Chinese university student groups are eager and interested to engage in practical projects to improve their environment, but often lack guidance and funding to implement their ideas.
The goal of this project is to form a student-administered small grants fund. It would be called the "Green SOS Fund". A committee of former student leaders, drawn from a variety of provinces in western and southwestern China, will publicize a competition for projects, decide on guidelines, develop criteria for evaluating proposals, supervise funded projects and collect final reports.
This process will reward the initiative and leadership of the students themselves, and will give them valuable experience in planning and implementing real-world projects.
Budget
| Grants to student groups in Western China for environmental projects of their own | $2,500 |
| Publicity, Evaluation/Selection, Final Report compilation, and translation | $250 |
| Operation of Green SOS Fund (administration, communications, etc.) | $250 |
| Total | $3,000 |