Books

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The Construction of Ecological Civilization in China
Kaizhon Yang, Ed.
Springer Singapore, 2024
“The book introduces China's ecological environmental protection in urban and rural areas. China's economic development and the achievements in alleviating poverty has been recognized by the international community. However, China's commitment in ecological and environmental protection has not gained equivalent attention. From a cultural and ideological perspective, the book presents the basic connotation and historical significance of ecological civilization construction advocated by China. It shows a tangible and multi-dimensional process and China's ecological civilization construction over recent years, combining analysis of the cases of China’s ecological civilization construction.”

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Transforming Urban Green Space Governance in China under Ecological Civilization:
An Institutional Analysis
Jieling Liu and Frank Gatzweiler
Springer Singapore, 2024
“This book addresses the transdisciplinary subject of urban green space governance in Chinese cities through political sciences, organization theory, sociology, and new institutional economics lenses, with urban planning and ecology perspectives as research foundation and the science of climate change on health and wellbeing research background. It captivates readers by bringing answers to: 1) Why are urban green spaces such a highly contested subject in climate mitigation and adaptation, particularly in contexts like Chinese cities? 2) Why is it important to govern urban green spaces as common-pool resources? 3) How to design policies/institutions that can maximize the end objectives such as good health, wellbeing, and climate resilience? 4) What can ordinary citizens gain from caring more about greening their cities and contributing to the process?…”

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Ecological Civilization and Rural Revitalization in China:
The case of Yuyuan Village
Zhichao Yu
Our Knowledge Publishing, 2022
“This book describes China's research on ecological civilization and how to use ecological civilization to achieve rural revitalization. This book studies the development of different civilizations in the East and West, China's financial crisis, China's rural revitalization and development process, and China's rural policies. Finally, the specific case of Yuyuan Village is used to analyze and design from the perspective of ecological civilization.”

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China‘s Global Vision for Ecological Civilization:
Theoretical Construction and Practical Research on Building Ecological Civilization
Jiahua Pan; Translated by Dan Wu
Springer Singapore, 2021
This book addresses the core tenets, logic, methodology and practice of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on ecological civilization. It traces the theoretical origins of his ideas and comprehensively discusses their theoretical characteristics and historical status, while also demonstrating that they represent a self-contained theoretical system and discourse system. In addition, the book offers guidelines on putting his thoughts into practice in connection with the new era of socialist ecological civilization in China, implementing the 2030 sustainable development agenda action plan and contributing to global ecological security.

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Beautiful China:
70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views on Eco-civilization Construction
Jiahua Pan, Shiji Gao, Qingrui Li, Jinnan Wang, Dekai Wu, and Chengliang Huang, eds.
Springer Singapore, 2021
This book discusses and studies the basic course of ecological civilization construction in the 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China and summarizes the experience and lessons. It contains 75 articles from 75 top experts and government officials in the field of ecological civilization policy-making and basic theory research in China, including Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, ecological culture, green industry economy, environmental quality, legal system, ecological security and so on, so as to provide reference for understanding and studying the progress of ecological environment protection since the founding of China. 

Building an Ecological Civilization
Zhang Yungfei
Cengage Learning Asia, 2020
ZHANG Yunfei is a professor of the School of Marxism Studies of Renmin University of China. Zhang's research interests include the holistic study of Marxism and its relationship with ecological civilization and social development. “Building an Ecological Civilization provides the reader with an overarching view of China's approach toward ecological civilization, outlining the country's theoretical framework and concrete strategies, including its policies, plans, and regulatory efforts. The book draws on selected speeches by President Xi Jinping and official documents on ecological civilization, an important part of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

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Choosing Life:
Ecological Civilization as the World's Best Hope (Topical Line Drives #41)
John Cobb and Jay McDaniel
Energion Publications, 2020
This 44 page publication seeks to answer the question, “How do our spiritual beliefs and practices link to our ethics and our care for the natural world around us?” Primarily a theological text, John B. Cobb, Jr. and Jay McDaniel look at life and divinity in all things, and ask us to look for a way of life that affirms God's presence everywhere. As a result of such an affirmation we may need to change not just our practices, but our very goals. We may need to allow our ambitions to be tempered by the needs of others, not just other human beings, but other living creatures, and all nature.

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The New Possible:
Visions of Our World Beyond Crisis
Editors: Philip Clayton, Kelli M Archie, Jonah Sachs, and Evan Steiner
Cascade Books, 2020
“Will pandemic, protests, economic instability and social distance lead to deeper inequalities, more nationalism and further erosion of democracies around the world? Or are we moving toward a global re-awakening to the importance of community, mutual support, and the natural world? In our lifetimes, the future has never been so up for grabs. The New Possible offers twenty-eight unique visions of what can be, if instead of choosing to go back to normal, we choose to go forward to something far better. Assembled from global leaders on six continents, these essays are not simply speculation. They are an inspiration and a roadmap for action.”

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Abundant Earth:
Toward an Ecological Civilization
Eileen Crist
University of Chicago Press, 2019
Eileen Crist is Associate Professor Emerita of the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech and Associate Editor of the journal The Ecological Citizen.
“In Abundant Earth, Eileen Crist not only documents the rising tide of biodiversity loss, but also lays out the drivers of this wholesale destruction and how we can push past them. Looking beyond the familiar litany of causes—a large and growing human population, rising livestock numbers, expanding economies and international trade, and spreading infrastructures and incursions upon wildlands—she asks the key question: if we know human expansionism is to blame for this ecological crisis, why are we not taking the needed steps to halt our expansionism?”

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Spiritual and Ecological Civilization:
The Essence and Mechanisms of Formation
Andrey Vladimirovich Ivanov, Irina Valerjevna Fotieva, and Michail Yurjevich Shishin
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019
The authors of this book are scholars from universities in Russia. 
“The book discusses one of the most acute problems facing society today, namely choosing ways for the further development of mankind. Its analysis of global crises of modern technogenic and consumer civilization shows the necessity and possibility of transitioning to a new type of civilization, which could be called spiritually-ecological. The volume demonstrates the real indicators of such a transformation in all spheres of human life and the main problems of such a transition.”

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China and Ecological Civilization:
John B. Cobb, Jr. in conversation with Andre Vltchek
John Cobb and Andre Vltchek
Singapore: Badak Merah, 2019.
“CHINA AND ECOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION” is a book of conversation between John B. Cobb, Jr and Andre Vltchek. As the world is possibly heading for yet another catastrophe and the West is flexing its muscles, antagonizing every single country that stands in its way to the total domination of the Planet, one country - one of the oldest cultures of earth, China, stood up and said “No! There are different ways to go forward. We could all benefit from the progress, without cannibalizing and fully destroying our Planet.”

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The Philosophical Foundations of Ecological Civilization:
A manifesto for the future
Arran Gare
Routledge, 2017
“The Philosophical Foundations of Ecological Civilization reframes the dynamics of the debate beyond the discourses of economics, politics and techno-science. Reviving natural philosophy to align science with the humanities, it offers the categories required to reform our modes of existence and our institutions so that we augment, rather than undermine, the life of the ecosystems of which we are part. From this philosophical foundation, the author puts forth a manifesto for transforming our culture into one which could provide an effective global environmental movement and provide the foundations for a global ecological civilization.”

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Postmodern Ecological Spirituality:
Catholic-Christian Hope for the Dawn of a Postmodern Ecological Civilization Rising from within the Spiritual Dark Night of Modern Industrial Civilization
Joe Holland
Pacem in Terris Press, 2017
JOE HOLLAND is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy & Religion at Saint Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida, as well as President of Pax Romana / Catholic Movement for Intellectual & Cultural Affairs USA, which is based in Washington DC. “In this book, eco-philosopher and Catholic theologian Joe Holland explores the late-modern breakdowns of both civilization and spirituality. He correlates the social and ecological breakdown of Modern Industrial Civilization with the deeper cultural breakdown of Modern Psychological Spirituality, which is found in both Catholic and Protestant forms, as well as in other religious forms. At the same time, he explores the seminal emergence of Postmodern Ecological Spirituality, which is already planting regenerative seeds for a future Postmodern Ecological Civilization. This challenging book provides essential background for: 1) understanding at the deep level the interwoven late-modern global devastation of ecological, societal, and spiritual life; and 2) seeking at the deep level the holistic postmodern global regeneration of ecological, social, and spiritual life, which Pope Francis has called “integral ecology.””

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China's Environmental Governing and Ecological Civilization
Jiahua Pan
Springer, 2016
“This book looks into the increasing conflict between the demand of economic growth and the already fragile ecological system condition in China. The prolonged urbanization process has escalated the erosion of natural environments and is increasing energy consumption. China’s role as a “world plant” is also demanding more and more resource supply as well as energy consumption. This book argues that to correctly respond to these emerging issues, apart from upgrading industry and improving environmental protection techniques, China needs to establish an “ecological civilization” that provides an ideological basis for the construction of a green low-carbon model of economic growth.”

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Ecological Civilization
Edited by Jon Sawyer
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, 2015
“On June 16, 2015, academics, journalists, scientists, government, religious and business leaders from China, the U.S., and other countries came together for the first time to discuss the environmental challenges facing China and the world and the increasingly important role of religion and traditional cultures in finding sustainable solutions to the challenges we face. “Ecological Civilization” is a compendium of the talks and proceedings of the International Conference on Ecological Environment. It took place at the Yale Center Beijing and was o-sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Communication University of China, and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.”

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Ecological Civilization of Contemporary China
Cao Baoyin and Yin Wujin
China Intercontinental Press, 2014
Cao Baoyin is a well-known Chinese writer and columnist. 
“Building a beautiful China at the new era of ecological civilization is the important content of Chinese dream for the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation. China has included ecological civilization into socialist modernization construction. Building ecological civilization and a beautiful China is both a long-term plan for the people's well-being and the nation's future and an active response to current severe ecological situation. It is a global topic. Many readers have many questions on China's ecological civilization and are eager to learn about that. They can find discussions and answers in the book.”