40 Graduate from GEI’s Eco-Entrepreneurship Training

BEIJING (July 17, 2010) – Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and the Asia Foundation held a closing ceremony for the Eco-Entrepreneurship Training (EET) program – a four-month series that aims to build up China’s entrepreneurs to lead and innovate greener business practices.

GEI’s Executive Director JIN Jiaman, along with Asia Foundation program officer Huang Zhen, congratulated participants on the completion of the four-module training, and expressed hope that they will continue to make use of what they learned during the trainings toward their entrepreneurial and environmental careers.

During the second phase of the EET, held between April and July 2010, over 40 participants from Beijing and Nanjing participated in the training’s four modules, which included energy and climate change, water resource use and conservation, renewable resources and environmental investment and finance.

Members of the training at the ceremony! – GEI 2010

Beijing participants made on-site visits to the Beijing Deqingyuan Agricultural Technology Co. Ltd and the God’s Grace Garden Organic Plantation to better understand green business management.

Background

GEI and the Asia Foundation jointly initiated the Eco-Entrepreneurship training project in 2009.

Through the case study-based training, we hope to cultivate a new kind of entrepreneur and create eco-friendly enterprise for the benefit of environmental protection and economic development. 

In April 2009, GEI launched the first training of the second phase of the program. 25 students participated in the training and the rate of entrepreneurship increased immediately after the conclusion of the training. In addition to the participants in Beijing, an additional 15 students in Nanjing are able to participate in the training through a live webcast.

Inspired by questions like “Why should I become an eco-entrepreneur?” “What are some successful examples of eco-entrepreneurship in the past?” and “How can I attract more funding for my business?” the training focused on topics such as water resource management, energy conservation and new energy, reuse of resources as well as finance and investments in the environmental field.

Each training of the four topics mentioned above will include an introduction to the topic, related questions in entrepreneurship, student activities, field studies and exhibits of participants’ business plan.

Content in the training offered a detailed analysis of challenges for eco-entrepreneurship in China across various sectors, as well as business opportunities and models for commercial success in these sectors. Through discussion between experts and participants (and between the participants themselves), GEI and the Asia Foundation hope to deepen the participants’ understanding of environmental protection and energy production in China, take full advantage of opportunities for entrepreneurship, and thereby improve their innovative capacity.

GEI’s Mme JIN addresses the training participants – GEI 2010

Mme JIN Jiaman expressed excitement over the large number of young people in China who are concerned about environmental problems and interested in creating socially responsible businesses:

“As people grow more and more interested, society’s demand for green business and low carbon economy is growing stronger and stronger. Eco-friendly enterprises, energy conserving enterprises and green jobs are fast becoming the new trend.”

Ms. Huang Zhen, environmental programs director at the Asia Foundation’s China office, was also excited to be able to participate in the eco-entrepreneurship trainings:

“I hope this project will help [the participants] to build a strong network. Nowadays, with vast networks of information available, it is not difficult to gain knowledge and information. However, being surrounded by people who share your ambitions will be greatly beneficial to your professional career. In the future, you will not only be competitors in the environmental field, but will also be a great support network for each other.”