TRAINING EFFORTS AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS OF THE CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROJECT'S TECHNICAL PROGRAM FOR WATER

In China, millions of people suffer from health problems and limits to economic development that result from widespread environmental problems. To enhance the implementation of solutions to China’s complex environmentally-related public health issues, the China Environmental Health Project (CEHP) was initiated in 2006 by Western Kentucky University (WKU) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) via cooperative agreement. Other agencies involved included ENVIRON Foundation, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholar’s China Environment Forum (CEF), the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), and two Chinese universities, the Anhui University of Science and Technology (AUST) located in Huainan, Anhui, and the Southwest University of China (SWUC) in Beibei, Chongqing. The purpose of the project was to develop United States-Chinese University partnerships to enhance the quality of public health in China. The project strived to develop sustainability by improving research infrastructure at the universities, and providing training to students and scientists, in effect working to “train the trainers.” This article summarizes the efforts, accomplishments and challenges of CEHP’s Technical Program for Water, which sought to increase southwest China’s capacity to monitor and protect its water resources through infrastructure development, training, field demonstrations sites, and a variety of outreach endeavors.