Recently,
the 4th East Asian Environmental History Conference, entitled "Ecological
Footprint of Civilization: East Asia and the World," was held at Nankai
University in Tianjin. The conference was jointly organized by the East Asian
Society for the History of Environment and the China Society for Environmental
Sciences and other academic groups. Historian, archaeologist, ecologist, geographers,
environmental scientists, environmental jurists and other experts and scholars
of relevant fields from Harvard University, Oxford University, Princeton
University, Heidelberg University, Tokyo University, Kyoto University, National
University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Hong Kong University
, Taiwan Donghua University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Nankai
University, Fudan University, Renmin University of China, Chinese Academy of
Sciences and other world-renowned universities and research institutes,
attended the meeting. Professor Ke Jian, RIEL deputy director, was invited to attend
this conference.
At the meeting, Professor Ke Jian delivered a speech entitled "The Flat World, Flatting Environmental Law & Disappeared History". During the opening discussion, Professor Ke Jian responded to the questions of history in the cultural context, the relationship between Chinese environmental laws and policies, and the role of party rules in environmental protection.