1 - 11A TRAINING PROGRAMME OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUNG TOWNSHIP ENTREPRENEURS IN CHINA'S CENTRAL AND WESTERN REGIONS

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1. Project Summary and Relationship to China's Agenda 21

Through sustainable development awareness-raising, on-the-job training related to environmentally friendly agriculture and practical technologies for outstanding rural youths and township entrepreneurs in the 10 central and western provinces and autonomous regions (Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan), this project is designed to guide and organise rural youths to actively participate in socio-economic development. Their leading role will be a catalyst for local economic and social development and promote sustainable development.

The project is based on programme area 20B of China's Agenda 21, and is related to programme areas 6B, 8A and 11E.

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2. Background

Chinese youths account for 29.8 percent of the nation's population. Of these about 210 million are rural youths who constitute the main force propelling China's rural economic development and are an important motivating force for environmental protection and sustainable development. At present, China is modernising rapidly and developing the socialist market economy. The vast expanses of the central and western regions, with their large population and rich energy and mineral resources, have tremendous development potential. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Party and government have formulated a series of important preferential policies for promoting economic development in central and western regions, therefore ushering in a new stage of rapid development for the rural economy and township enterprises in these regions.

However, the relatively low level of education, combined with adverse natural and environmental conditions has also generated relatively serious problems in terms of population, resources, and environment in the course of economic development. At present, the frequent mobility of rural youth, the sharp increase in population, the increasingly serious waste of natural resources, the further ecological deterioration wrought by environmental pollution caused by township and village enterprises (TVEs) in central and western regions have, in turn, restricted economic development and social progress in these regions. One of the primary causes of this phenomenon is the lack of the awareness of sustainable development on the part of the public, especially the youth.

The education and training of outstanding rural youth in the 10 central and western provinces and regions offered by this project will enhance their consciousness and ability to participate in sustainable development to act as role-models and leaders in promoting effective resource use and in preventing the spread of pollution. They will also help make migration more orderly, and contribute to local economic development and social progress. Experiences and examples will be provided for guiding China's youth to participate in sustainable development, and the ideology will gradually be incorporated into the various types of existing rural vocational educational systems.

This project is not only closely related to the country's strategies of rejuvenating the country by relying on science and education and sustainable development, but is also very important in promoting regional economic development and alleviation of poverty. In addition, this project is also an integral part of the All-China Youth Federationís ìcross-century talented youth project" as well as ìserving numerous villages in their efforts to shake off poverty and become prosperous."

As a national youth organisation, the All-China Youth Federation aims at uniting, guiding and organising youths nation-wide to actively participate in national social and economic development. The All-China Youth Federation and its grassroots organisations are rich in talented people and intellectual resources, pooling many outstanding young scientific and technical workers, entrepreneurs and young people involved in the Spark Program. The All-China Youth Federation has repeatedly organised scientific and technological service groups of youth to provide scientific and technological services to poverty-stricken townships and villages. It actively looks for, discovers and trains youth to participate in sustainable development. By pairing factories with villages, and schools with villages, it provides project, management, technology and funding support for environmental protection as well as utilisation of resources and economic development in the central and western regions. It has accumulated a rich store of experiences in organising and guiding youths to participate in the sustainable development of these regions, and thus possesses the organisational and technological conditions for implementing this project.

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3. Objectives

3.1 Long-term Objective

To raise the scientific, cultural and technological levels of rural youths in the 10 central and western provinces and regions, and enhance their awareness and ability to participate in sustainable development, thus giving them an opportunity to act as role-models and play a catalytic role in bringing about the coordinated development of the economy, society and environment in these regions.

3.2 Immediate Objectives

• To raise the awareness and ability of young township entrepreneurs in the 10 central and western provinces and regions on sustainable development through training in order to promote environmental protection in TVEs, the efficient use of natural resources and local socio-economic development;
• To train a technical backbone force of rural youths who are aware of sustainable development and can act as role models in the 10 central and western provinces and regions, thus helping alleviate local poverty;
• To establish training and technology transfer information base for rural youths, enhancing the ability of the nation's youth organisations to participate in sustainable development, and providing good service for the broad masses of youth.

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4. Outputs and Activities

4.1 Training plan for sustainable development awareness and practical technology among youths in the central and western regions

• To survey 1,000 young township entrepreneurs regarding their knowledge and awareness of sustainable development;
• To survey 2,000 rural youths regarding their mastery of practical agricultural technology and their demands;
• Based on the results of the surveys, to select or revise teaching materials on sustainable development, as well as on practical technology training for rural youths. The materials will also include environmental protection policies and regulations, cleaner production technologies, technologies for the efficient use of resources and environmentally friendly aquaculture and cultivation technologies;
• To formulate plans for practical technology training and for increasing sustainable development awareness among of youths in the 10 central and western provinces and regions.

Monitoring Indicators: report on the state of sustainable development awareness among rural youths and knowledge of practical technologies; teaching materials on practical technology training; increased sustainable development awareness among youths in the 10 central and western provinces and regions; and the plan for practical technology training.

Implementing Agency: the All-China Youth Federation

Time Schedule: January 1997 - December 1997

4.2 Training on awareness and capacity building of sustainable development for outstanding young township entrepreneurs in the central and western regions

• Relying on local institutions of higher education and secondary technical schools, each of the 10 central and western provinces and regions will open training classes twice every year for township entrepreneurs on awareness and ability in participation in sustainable development. These training courses will be held for 50 people for a period of three months. The training is intended for directors and deputy directors (managers) from existing township enterprises who have a junior and senior middle school education level and are under 45 years of age;
• Cleaner production technology model enterprises from various domestic and foreign (mainly domestic) industries will be selected for on-the-job training with the above-mentioned personnel. Training programs will last for three months and the contents will include the application of enterprise cleaner production technology, pollution controls, environmental management, and comprehensive utilisation of resources;
• At the end of the period of theoretical and practical training, the All China Youth Federation, in conjunction with institutions of higher education and secondary technical schools, will conduct examination and evaluation;
• A delegation of outstanding young Chinese entrepreneurs from township will be organised to go abroad for short-term studies and investigations.

Monitoring Indicators: 4,000 entrepreneurs of township acquire elementary theoretical knowledge and practical experiences related to sustainable development; a summary report on the training of outstanding township entrepreneurs on awareness and ability in participating in sustainable development.

Implementing Agencies: the All-China Youth Federation, grassroots youth federations and local institutions of higher education and secondary technical schools.

Time Schedule: January 1997 - December 2000

4.3 Training of outstanding rural youths in the 10 central and western provinces and regions on awareness of sustainable development and practical techniques

• Two hundred rural youths under 30 years old with a junior middle school education level and some specialised knowledge of crop and plant cultivation and animal husbandry will be trained for one month on theoretical and practical agricultural technologies;
• After the training, the above mentioned personnel will be organised to join households specialised in crop planting or animal husbandry either in their own localities or in eastern coastal regions for three months of hands-on training. They will participate in operation, management, and the application of cultivation and animal raising technologies in the households to which they are sent;
• At the end of this training, they will be provided with low-interest or interest-free loans to support them in developing relevant cultivation and rearing projects. The loans will be for approximately 50 percent of all funds needed for the project, with a payback period of two to three years;
• Monitoring and assessment of project implementation will be organised once a year by the All-China Youth Federation; examination, supervision, monitoring and evaluation will be strengthened, a follow-up service and statistic monitoring system will be established, and trainees will be retrained if necessary.

Monitoring Indicators: eight thousand outstanding rural youths with a basic understanding of sustainable development and proficiency in the use of practical agricultural technology; support of outstanding students in their development of 500 crop cultivation and animal rearing projects, a summary report on the training of rural youths.

Implementing Agencies: All-China Youth Federation, grassroots youth federations

Time Schedule: January 1997 - December 2000

4.4 Establishment of an information network on practical technologies for rural areas and township enterprises and training of rural young talents

• All-China Youth Federation will establish a special office with four personnel and four microcomputers, set up a network in each of the 10 central and western provinces and regions, establish a data base, a talented people base and a project base, so as to gradually form a widely used sustainable development information network based mainly on young pioneers in central and western regions;
• Grassroots youth federations select township entrepreneurs and outstanding rural youths to participate in training and information networks in their respective province or region, and report this to the All-China Youth Federation;
• The All-China Youth Federation and grass-roots youth federations will jointly determine the training site and contents, and co-ordinate the students with the enterprises or plant cultivation and animal rearing households to which they will be sent;
• In light of the local technological needs as determined by grassroots youth federations, suitable talents, opportunities and channels for technology transfer shall be sought through information networks and the office of the All-China Youth Federation in charge of young rural talents, and practical technologies for rural areas and TVEs.

Monitoring Indicators: talent base of the All-China Youth Federation, rural youth practical project base, information networks for sustainable development training and technology transfer.

Implementing Agencies: the All-China Youth Federation and grassroots youth federations in the 10 central and western provinces and regions

Time Schedule: January 1997 - December 2000

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5. Inputs

5.1 Chinese Inputs

Chinese inputs will include inviting experts and scientific researchers; salaries for Chinese personnel, office equipment as well as necessary equipment; main expenses for training in enterprises or crop and plant cultivation and animal rearing households; and trainees' travel and accommodation.

5.2 International Inputs

International inputs will cover foreign experts; part of the training fees for young township entrepreneurs at institutions of higher education and secondary technical schools; part of the funds for supporting outstanding trained youths in developing model projects; teaching materials; and some office equipment.

5.3 Budget

Implementation of this project requires total funds of US$ 3.9 million, including domestic investments of US$ 2 million, international grants US$ 1.9 million.

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Table 1. Budget by Item (in million US dollars)

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Table 2. Budget by Output (in million US dollars)

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6. Benefits

The direct beneficiaries of this project are the outstanding rural youths in the 10 central and western provinces and regions. In addition, the project will indirectly promote the sustainable development of local township enterprises, crop and plant cultivation and animal raising industries as well as the rural economy. Implementation of this project can help directly train 2,000 young pioneers who will be capable of participating in sustainable development and thus laying a solid talented people foundation for the future.

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7. Risks

Rural youths are widely scattered in the 10 central and western provinces and regions and have different educational levels. This presents certain difficulties in the sample survey and selector of candidates for participating in training and for the allocation of funds. Mitigating this risk will necessitate the coordination of grassroots youth federations, social organisations and financial institutions.

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