China has been and still is on the fast track of development. Especially the East China has prospered and the standard of living has increased steadily. Unfortunately, this development has not come without drawbacks. Even though the standard of living has improved, not all of the living conditions have done the same. Particularly the air pollution has become a major societal issue that hit hardest young children and elderly people. The Government of China has reacted to the threat of poor air quality and has initiated actions to solve the air quality issues, both indoors as well as outdoors.
Air quality, biodiversity loss, chemicalisation, food supply, energy production and fresh water topics are important to China. Focus have to be multifaceted, to recognize the significant role of environmental, economical, political and societal development. To be able to form the most suitable and effective solution packages, the integrated vision should be made and long-term, coherent and coordinated activities between all the players of society should be initiated. Aim of the players is to contribute to the topics most important to China, to provide knowledge, strategies, plans and concrete actions to form a platform from where the modern Beautiful China arise.
Here the Knowledge Transfer is one of the main keys in our hands. The sources and effects of pollution and its’ influence on society and human health is important to understand. It is also important to understand the linkages of past, present and future changes in environment to the Chinese society. Through education and open dissemination of most relevant research results the society is able to maximise the use of knowledge provided by the science community. That is why one of the important role of the science community is the dissemination of the scientific results and strategies and to educate the next generation of multidisciplinary environmental experts and scientists. For the development of clean and safe human living environment, the politicians need clear, timely and useful input from the science community to support their decision making mechanisms. The concept of the clean environment for the well-being of the population is the core of the future society of China. Time has come to make the vision concrete, together with the science community, private sector and the government of China in its’ various levels.
Welcome to the Air Quality in a Changing World –education workshop held in Nanjing 21-22 April 2015!
Academy Prof. Markku Kulmala, University of Helsinki
Academician Prof. Congbin Fu, Nanjing University