Leading Chinese Environmentalist Wang Canfa To Visit Champlain College and McGill in June
Burlington Talk to Focus on 'Environmental Realities Facing China'
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BURLINGTON, VT (05/12/2009)(readMedia)-- People in Vermont and Montreal are about to have the opportunity to gain rare insights into Chinese realities. The Woodbury Institute of Champlain College and Montreal's McGill University will be hosting Professor Wang Canfa, one of China's leading environmentalists, who will discuss the "Environmental Realities Facing China."
Business, community, and environmental leaders from around the region will be invited to hear Prof. Wang - who both teaches law and heads one of China's most significant environmental groups - discuss the current challenges and accomplishments of his country's environmental protection programs.
Prof. Wang will give a public lecture on Tuesday, June 2 at McGill University, and will meet with faculty and graduate students on Wednesday, June 3. A public event is planned at Champlain College on Thursday, June 4 at 7:15 p.m. at IDX Student Center. Tickets are $10 and $5 for students. On Friday, June 5, he will take part in a panel discussion between environmentalists, legal experts, and mediators at Champlain College.
Wang Canfa is a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and the founding director of the Center of Legal Assistance for Pollution Victims (CLAPV). He is one of China's leading environmentalists, whose passion for environmental protection plays itself out in the daily effort to help ordinary Chinese citizens who have been victimized by the country's fast industrialization and rapid economic growth. Since 1999, CLAPV has logged more than 10,000 calls and pursued over 100 cases. His tireless efforts and CLAPV's numerous successes have earned Prof. Wang worldwide attention, including his being named one of Time Magazine's top 50 global "Heroes of the Environment" for 2007.
China, the world's largest country, has also become the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases because of its dependency on the use of coal to fuel its rapid economic growth. Organizers expect that environmental backdrop will help formulate discussion on sustainability, clean development practices, and the role of the legal system in protecting the environment during Prof. Wang's visits to Montreal and Burlington.
The following organizations helped Champlain College and McGill University bring Wang Canfa to North America: The Brian Bronfman Family Foundation, The David Suzuki Foundation, Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM) and Hong Kong Business Association; and Vermont sponsors, Bay and Paul Foundations, NRG Inc., Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Crea and Phil Lintilhac, and Seventh Generation.
Champlain College was founded in 1878, offering professionally focused majors. It has 2,000 campus-based undergraduate students on campus and is ranked in the top tier of Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the North by 2009 America's Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report. Champlain offers study abroad programs in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland.