Over the past decade, China has accelerated its pace toward ecological civilisation, which points to a synthesis of economic, educational, political, agricultural, and other societal changes toward sustainability. Decarbonisation, green transition, and sustainable development have become defining characteristics and vital goals for China since 2012. Furthermore, at the 20th National Congress of CPC in Spring 2023, ‘continuing the transition to green development’ was set as one of eight top priorities for the country’s future.
China’s ecological civilisation and green, sustainable development have gained significant momentum and taken on an ever-richer connotation in the new era, which involve collaboration between public and private sectors on a series of long-standing and emerging issues – from leading a green lifestyle to building a circular economy, controlling pollution, conserving natural resources, protecting biodiversity, and upgrading the energy system. While the prospect of a greener future has been positively portrayed by the government, the possible approaches to realise these development goals are underdiscussed in academia. What are the roots of China’s green, sustainable development? What new phenomena, knowledge, and practices are emerging from this process? How should the roles of different actors be understood and evaluated? What resources and lessons can China provide to help resolve the development-environment dilemma globally? These key questions urgently require answers from scholars of different backgrounds.
In light of this context, this special issue brings together wisdom from sociology and other relevant disciplines to explore, elaborate on, and evaluate China’s decarbonisation, green, sustainable development and approaches towards its ecological civilisation, as well as the potential challenges. Topics accepted in the special issue include but are not limited to:
- Cultural roots and new cultural phenomena of ecological civilisation
- New technologies in the construction of green and sustainable development
- Green and sustainable development in the digital and information era
- Social justice in the green and sustainable development
- Policy tools and social management practices in the green and sustainable development
- Environmental NGOs, volunteers, and other civil actors in the green and sustainable development
- Enterprises in the green industry and green economy
- Narratives, knowledge, and communication on climate change
- Green and clean energy system
- Green and ecological agriculture
- Pollution control
- Biodiversity protection and natural conservation
- Animal protection practices
- Circular economy
- Waste management
- Green and sustainable practices in everyday life
- Food systems
- Sustainable consumption
Guest Editors:
Guanli ZHANG
Beijing Normal University gz22@bnu.edu.cn, China
Chuntian LU
Xi’an Jiaotong University luchuntian@xjtu.edu.cn, China
Xiang FANG
Sun Yat-sen University xiangfang01@hotmail.com, China
Submission instructions and timeline:
All submissions should be sent by email to JCS Editorial office jcs_si@126.com.
September 30, 2023 | Submission of long abstract (approx. 800 words) |
October 31, 2023 | Acceptance of abstracts |
March 31, 2024 | Submission of full manuscript (approx. 8000 words) |
August 31, 2024 | Submission of revisions |
November 30, 2024 | Publication |