Wu Xiaohong: Public Participation in Implementing Environmental Protection Policies in the Rural Areas in China

In the past 30 years, with the reform and opening-up policy, China got a great achievement in economic development with an average annual GDP of 9.8%. As a result, the public's average living standards have been improving, however, many environmental problems also have been caused in both urban and rural areas. A series of environmental policies were formulated in order to respond to the problems during different times and conditions, which provide guidance for environmental protection. However there is a big gap between policy making and implementation, especially in the local level. Implementation was affected by many factors, such as legislation, governance system, market forces and public participation. Generally most polices are traditional direct regulations, and in recent years, economic tools are utilized a lot, while countermeasures about public participation are very rare [1].The public is a very important stakeholder in the process of addressing environmental problems. This paper focused on public participation implementing environmental protection policies in the rural areas to take a look at the challenges and difficulties in the process via a case study in a small town located in the southeast of Sichuan province called Xiao'Er. How environmental education can promote pubic participation to address the environmental problems was explored.