Public engagement with science in China

Professor David Powlson, co-chair of SAIN Working Group 1 (Nutrient Management) recently participated in a series of café scientifique events in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. These were organised by the British Council under their climate change educational programme “Climate Cool”. The aim is to introduce scientific subjects to general audiences. They are held restaurants or coffee shops in collaboration with local partners, in this case the Jiangsu Association of Science and Technology and Zhejiang Association of Science and Technology. David spoke at events in the cities of Nantong, Hangzhou and Ningbo. An astonishing 48 current Academicians were born in Ningbo, claimed to be more than in any other place in China!
David spoke about reducing the carbon footprint of agriculture through more rational use of nitrogen fertilizer. His examples were based on experience from two SAIN projects that he leads. One is a project in Shaanxi Province, in collaboration with Professor Tong Yanan and colleagues, at the Northwest University of Agricultural and Forestry Science on “Improved livelihoods on Shaanxi farms through improved nutrient management and reduced non-point pollution”. The other is a collaborative project on low carbon agriculture with China Agricultural University (Professor Zhang Fusuo and Dr. Zhang Weifeng) and the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, CCAP, if the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Professor Huang Jikun and colleagues). In this project the greenhouse gas emissions associated with N fertilizer and its over-use are being estimated and communicated to policy makers.
The café scientifique events also included Chinese speakers. One was Dr. Huang Jianye, President of Nantong Agricultural College who talked about the impacts of climate change on crop growth as studied in the RICE FACE experiment in Jiangsu. The other was Prof Luo Shiming, formerly President of South China Agricultural University and now Director of the Institute of the Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Ecology at the University. He spoke about the application of ecological principles to design agricultural systems relying less on agrochemical inputs – including examples of “circular agriculture”, a SAIN priority area.
At each event some 120 local people attended including students, schoolteachers, professional people and members of the public, who eagerly asked questions for over an hour following the presentations. And crowded round the speakers after the end of the event to gain more information. At Hangzhou several school students asked thoughtful questions about how to make agriculture “low carbon”.