Interpreting Ecological Civilization with the Latest Results …
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a mainstream concept in international development thinking before the United
Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. Second, the parallel
model. The economy, society, and environment are in a parallel relationship
in sustainable development. Environmental issues received attention but endof-pipe control was emphasized. This is a mainstream concept from 1972 to
1992. Third, the intersection model. The interface of the economy, society,
and environment was improved, yet with a contradiction between the improvement of material efficiency and the expansion of material scale—a mainstream
concept from 1992 to 2012. Fourth, the inclusion model. Absolutely decoupling of economic and social development from resource and environmental
consumption is accentuated. The Doughnut economics, a visual framework
for sustainable development proposed by Oxford economist Kate Raworth in
2012, is the latest achievement of the inclusion model that shares the same
values and methodology with China’s ecological civilization emphasizing the
ecological red line. As such, it can provide ideological insights for improving
the theories and policies of ecological civilization.
From the process perspective, ecological civilization is a new environmentalism or
deep green revolution that transcends end-of-pipe pollution control. The pressurestate-response management, namely the PSR model that ecological civilization
emphasizes turns post treatment into active prevention. The common myth is that
people often emphasize end-of-pipe pollution control without changing the growth
model, instead of emphasizing source-oriented and life-cycle material and energy
flow control.
(3) The subject dimension: Three levels of cooperative governance to promote
sustainable development. Since 2012, people have increasingly emphasized
that sustainable development needs to be expanded into a four-in-one system
involving the economy, society, environment, and governance, with cooperative governance as a vital part. In 2012, Cavagnaro proposed that sustainable
development requires three levels of cooperative governance. The first level is
macro management and social management; the second level is organizational
cooperation and public–private cooperation; and the third level is public participation and individual management. Incorporating cooperative governance into
the theoretical system for sustainable development is to give full play to various
organizations and public–private cooperation, thereby achieving sustainable
development through their respective actions under a common goal, namely
“thinking globally, and acting locally.”
From the subject perspective, the development of ecological civilization involves
the interaction and extensive participation of stakeholders such as the government,
enterprises, society, and citizens, rather than the willingness and mobilization of the
government alone, or even the top-to-bottom willingness and mobilization of the
central government. The common myth is that people often see promoting ecological civilization as a task of the resource and environmental protection departments,
729
a mainstream concept in international development thinking before the United
Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. Second, the parallel
model. The economy, society, and environment are in a parallel relationship
in sustainable development. Environmental issues received attention but endof-pipe control was emphasized. This is a mainstream concept from 1972 to
1992. Third, the intersection model. The interface of the economy, society,
and environment was improved, yet with a contradiction between the improvement of material efficiency and the expansion of material scale—a mainstream
concept from 1992 to 2012. Fourth, the inclusion model. Absolutely decoupling of economic and social development from resource and environmental
consumption is accentuated. The Doughnut economics, a visual framework
for sustainable development proposed by Oxford economist Kate Raworth in
2012, is the latest achievement of the inclusion model that shares the same
values and methodology with China’s ecological civilization emphasizing the
ecological red line. As such, it can provide ideological insights for improving
the theories and policies of ecological civilization.
From the process perspective, ecological civilization is a new environmentalism or
deep green revolution that transcends end-of-pipe pollution control. The pressurestate-response management, namely the PSR model that ecological civilization
emphasizes turns post treatment into active prevention. The common myth is that
people often emphasize end-of-pipe pollution control without changing the growth
model, instead of emphasizing source-oriented and life-cycle material and energy
flow control.
(3) The subject dimension: Three levels of cooperative governance to promote
sustainable development. Since 2012, people have increasingly emphasized
that sustainable development needs to be expanded into a four-in-one system
involving the economy, society, environment, and governance, with cooperative governance as a vital part. In 2012, Cavagnaro proposed that sustainable
development requires three levels of cooperative governance. The first level is
macro management and social management; the second level is organizational
cooperation and public–private cooperation; and the third level is public participation and individual management. Incorporating cooperative governance into
the theoretical system for sustainable development is to give full play to various
organizations and public–private cooperation, thereby achieving sustainable
development through their respective actions under a common goal, namely
“thinking globally, and acting locally.”
From the subject perspective, the development of ecological civilization involves
the interaction and extensive participation of stakeholders such as the government,
enterprises, society, and citizens, rather than the willingness and mobilization of the
government alone, or even the top-to-bottom willingness and mobilization of the
central government. The common myth is that people often see promoting ecological civilization as a task of the resource and environmental protection departments,