Data Analysis
Data and Methods
The analysis of the characteristics of the climate change education organizations was based on the existing information about these organizations. Therefore, information regarding CCE organizations in China was gathered from reliable sources such as their official websites. Since there is a lot of information online which may be misleading, search criteria, as well as inclusion and exclusion criteria, were developed. The search criteria ensured that reliable information regarding the CEE organizations was obtained. The inclusion criteria also made sure that the information acquired focused on explaining the characteristics of the specific organizations. On the other hand, the exclusion criteria made sure that irrelevant information about the organizations was excluded.
Analytical Approach
Analyzing gathered data is the most effective approach to using the collected data to answer the proposed research questions. The data gathered regarding the CCE organizations was qualitative. Therefore, thematic analysis was the most effective data analysis approach to help the researcher get meaningful insights into the characteristics of these CCE organizations. According to Riger et al. (2016), the thematic approach of data analysis identifies, assesses, and presents themes of qualitative data. Additionally, this strategy also recognizes patterns that lead to the identification of the major themes from the data collected by the researcher.
Data Analysis
One of the main objectives of the study was to explore the characteristics of climate change education organizations in China. The research utilized secondary data obtained from the official websites of the selected climate change education organizations in China. This section of the study presents the findings acquired from the analysis of this secondary data. This process was guided by the following research question
What Characterizes CCE organizations in the Chinese Context?
This research question aims to explore the different features of the different climate change education organizations in China. There are different types of CCE organizations in China. Each organization was established to achieve a specific aim which suggests that different organizations prioritize different activities in their quest to educate Chinese people about climate change.
Descriptive Statistics
This section presents the frequency distribution and descriptive analysis of the different categories of climate change education organizations selected for the study. A total of 34 climate change organizations were selected in this study. These climate change organizations were either NGOs, governmental, Higher Education, or Higher Education organizations which were also NGOs. Figure1 presents the distribution of these organizations based on their categories. This analysis indicates that most of the climate change educational organizations in China are NGOs (32.4%), followed by governmental (26.5%), Higher Education (23.5%), and Higher Education and NGO category (17.6%) respectively.
Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1:Categories of CCE Organizations in China
NGOs
These are the CCE organizations that have the highest frequency in China. These organizations are involved in different activities such as Activism, Student Education, Teacher Training, Exhibition, Developing Education Policies, and Academic Research. Figure 2 below presents the frequency of the activities presented by the different CCE organizations which are NGOs. From the figure, it is evident that most of the NGO organizations are focused on teacher training activities followed by student education and activism respectively. However, it seems that these organizations have not put much effort into other activities such as exhibitions, academic research, and policy development activities.
Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 2:Activities of NGO Climate Change Education Organizations
Government
Climate change education organizations which are government had the second highest frequency in the number of organizations selected for the study. The activities conducted by these organizations are the development of education policy, student education, exhibitions, academic research, and teacher training. The analysis of the activities conducted by government organizations indicates that most of these organizations are involved in the development of education policy. Additionally, exhibitions and student education are also the activities that these organizations carry out. Several government organizations contribute to academic research on climate change. However, teacher training activities are not highly focused on by the government climate change education organizations. There was no evidence of activism activities in this category of organizations.
Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 3: Activities of Government CCE Organizations
Higher Education Organizations
Higher Education climate change organizations had the least frequency among the different categories of organizations selected for the study. Just like the other categories, higher education organizations are involved in diverse activities relevant to climate change. These activities include student education, exhibitions, and academic research. Figure 4 below demonstrates the frequency of these activities based on the information gathered on higher education climate change education organizations. From the figure, it is clear that higher education organizations focus on academic research activities. These organizations also conduct exhibitions that focused on climate change. The frequency of student education is not very high as compared to the other categories of climate change education organizations. However, there was no evidence of activism and policy development activities in this category of climate change education organizations.
Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 4:Higher Education Organizations’ Activities
Presentation of Findings
Based on the review of the existing information regarding the climate change organizations in China, several themes were identified. These themes were derived based on the activities that are conducted by the different climate change organizations in the Chinese context. These themes include the provision of information and knowledge, skills development/training, exhibitions, development of education policy, and cultivating activism. The following sub-sections present a discussion of the characteristics of different categories of climate change educations organizations.
Provision of knowledge and information/Education
The review of existing literature and activities of selected climate change education organizations suggested that most of these organizations provide knowledge and education to Chinese people through different strategies. In fact, all categories of the organizations selected for the study offer climate change education programs. These organizations aim to achieve this through the provision of climate change education, education for sustainable development programs and environment education programs. The number of student education activities was high in the NGO category of CCE organizations. This was followed by government organizations even though the frequency was not high. The results also showed that Higher education organizations offer the least educational programs in China.
Basic climate change education is offered through different activities such as programs that educate students about climate change and through exchange programs. For example, Shandong University is a Chinese university that offers a Global Climate Change course which was initiated and developed by East Carolina University. The course aims to help Chinese learners to comprehend foreign cultures and enhance a global spirit in an international environment. Students and teachers from China, Brazil, the United States, and India concentrate on the latest international climate hotspots and carry out online learning as well as discussions regarding global change through lectures conducted by experts, roundtable meetings and online video exchanges.
The analysis of the CCE organizations’ literature indicated that Education for sustainable development programs not only aim to educate students but also encourage specific attitudes, knowledge, and values in the whole society. For example, the Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities is an NGO organization that works to enhance eco-living and sustainable development through connection with the Ministry of Education, schools, communities, the People’s Education Press among other stakeholders in China. Their programs involve experiential teaching and learning to enhance dialogues for agreeable solutions to be established. This approach also promotes the ability of different groups and people to make decisions and change their choices into desired actions and results. These activities are consistent with those of the China Clime Change Education which is an NGO that aims to solve various climate change education deficiencies in China including lack of detailed and creative textbooks that are sustainable to the conditions in China, lack of knowledge and teaching materials for climate change educators, limited opportunities for interaction and cooperation among schools regarding climate change and absence of detailed climate change policies and strategies.
Furthermore, environmental education is another type of education that climate change education organizations provided to Chinese people. These activities aim to motivate people to conserve their environment and avoid practices that can harm it. An example of an organization that offers environmental education is Tianjin Environmental Protection Products Promotion Association. This organization is dedicated to promoting products that protect the environment. It is a public welfare organization that is comprised of manufacturers, sales companies, environment protection volunteers, environment protection and governance organizations as well as environment protection product professionals. This relationship contributes to the strong position of Tianjin in its aim to lead a healthy life and build a livable environment for Chinese people.
Skills Development/ Teacher Training
Another theme that was consistent from the review of the activities of the climate change education organizations was training. The analysis of these organizations suggested that a fair amount of the climate change education organizations in China offer training to enhance the development of different skills. The varieties of training offered by these organizations includes teacher and student training, campus project training as well as professional training. From the analysis of these organizations, it was evident that different organizations have established initiatives to train teachers. NGO organizations had the highest frequency of teacher training activities while government CCE organizations also showed small evidence of teacher training activities. However, there was no evidence of such activities in the higher education category of climate change education organizations. An example of organizations involved in teacher training activities is the Sino-British International Low Carbon College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University which is a higher education organization. The organization incorporates training of talent, research, industry incubation, and ultimately high-end training. Additionally, different training initiatives for teachers have been conducted by different climate change education organizations in China. For instance, Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities has been able to hold more than ten climate change education projects for middle school teachers successfully in different regions in China. Additionally, the review of existing information showed that course programs regarding climate change for teachers have been established in different climate change education organizations in China.
Cultivating Activism
Another consistent theme from the literature on climate change education organizations in China is the cultivation of activism. It was evident that most of the existing organizations in China are leading the discussions regarding climate change, spreading awareness, and encouraging students as well as the society to take specific actions to combat climate change. The analysis of these organizations indicated that a fair percentage of these climate change education organizations are involved in activities that aim to cultivate activists. The analysis of organizations that cultivate activism suggested that activism activities are higher in NGO organizations. The frequency of this kind of activity was however not observed in the other categories of climate change education organizations. An example of an organization that conducts activism activities is the China Youth Climate Action Network (CYCAN) which aims to focus on the 2030 Action Plan of encouraging young people and the public to take direct actions and to make impactful changes through three approaches. One of the approaches is using campaigns and advocacy to enhance the understanding of young people and actively taking part through the establishment and maintaining a youth network that is focused on climate. The second strategy is empowering the youth by offering platforms for aspiring young people to grow and develop their understating and skills to take part in green change. The final strategy is impact and change which entails utilizing personal action to formulate industry growth for superior change.
Academic Research
Another key theme obtained from the data on climate change education organizations is academic research. The evidence obtained suggests that CCE organizations in China conduct and support research that provides meaningful insights into how to effectively and sustainably handle climate crises. The analysis of the organizations that support academic research suggested that higher education organizations are the major contributors to academic research activities even though other categories such as governmental organizations support such research. Several government climate change education organizations demonstrated academic research activities while the frequency of such activities was lower among the NGO organizations. An example of an organization that supports academic research is the National Institute of clean and low carbon energy community which is a government organization. Since it was established, the organization has conducted more than 400 scientific studies of different types. Another governmental organization that supports academic research is the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences which offers different scientific research products including survey research projects, academic works, data translation, scientific papers, and document collation. From the time this organization was developed, it has been able to publish 5,517 scientific papers, 4,293 academic works, 16108 translated papers among other resources. An example of a higher education organization that offers extensive support to academic research on climate change is the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE), Peking University, and Center for Sustainable Development (CfSD). This is a research center for carbon finance and carbon management research, new energy and energy storage research as well as smart energy and big data research. Additionally, it has contributed to different scientific studies such as research on the effect of constraints in the environmental goals on the economy, agricultural output, and policy incentives.
Development of Policy
Another major finding from the data obtained on the climate change education organizations is that they contribute to the development of education policies. These policies mainly aim to help China to strengthen its climate resilience across its economy. The analysis of organizations that develop education policies revealed that this characteristic is common among government climate change education organizations as compared to other categories. There was evidence of this activity in the NGO category even though the frequency was very low. The information gathered on higher education organizations did not suggest any evidence of policy development activities. An example of an organization that demonstrated policy development features is the Hangzhou Low Carbon Science & Technology Museum which has contributed to the policy that requires green printing of textbooks in primary and secondary schools. Additionally, this organization has also been involved in the policy related to environmental education in both primary and secondary schools.
Exhibitions
The information gathered about the CCE organizations indicates that exhibitions are an important part of the climate change education offered in China. Different categories of CCE organizations showed evidence of having exhibitions among the different climate change activities they conduct. Exhibitions were many in higher education organizations when compared to other categories of CCE organizations. The frequency of these activities was followed by governmental and then NGO organizations. An example of an organization that demonstrated a lot of exhibition activities is China-UK Low Carbon College. This institution has conducted essential exhibitions such as the waste reduction program, the design thinking 2021 summer training program, green diet saves the future thematic exhibition among other climate change education exhibitions. Another significant organization is the Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change-Hong Kong. Among the most significant exhibitions by the organization include the decade of change thematic exhibition, the green diet saves the future thematic exhibition, disappearing waste exhibition among others.
Summary of the Findings
Overall, this section presented the findings of the study. The study’s aim was to determine the characteristics of CCE organizations in China. Data gathered from the official websites of these companies was evaluated and different results were obtained from the analysis process. Firstly, the analysis of the findings suggests that the NGO climate change education organizations conduct more educational activities as compared to government and higher education organizations in China. The results also indicated that NGO organizations take part in most of the activities that aim to educate or inform people in China about climate change. On the other hand, government organizations were observed to take part in different activities except activism while higher education organizations did not show evidence of taking part in activism, teacher training and policy development activities. These educational activities demonstrated by the organizations involved in the study include the provision of knowledge and information, teacher training, cultivation of activism, academic research, development of policy, and exhibitions. In terms of providing education to students, NGOs demonstrated a higher number of activities followed by government and higher education CCE organizations. In terms of teacher training, NGOs had a higher frequency of training activities followed by the government category even though the frequency was very low. Training activities were not demonstrated by higher education CCE organizations. When it comes to activism cultivation activities, they were highest in NGO organizations while there was no evidence of these activities in other categories of climate change education organizations. The results also indicated that higher education organizations highly support academic research activities followed by government and NGO organizations respectively. When it comes to education policy development, government organizations showed the highest frequency followed by NGO organizations even though the frequency of this activity was very low in this category. There was no evidence of policy development activities in higher education climate education organizations in China. Finally, exhibition activities were high in higher education activities followed by government and then the NGO organizations respectively.
References
Riger, Stephanie., & Sigurvinsdottir, Rannveig. (2016). Thematic analysis. Handbook of methodological approaches to community-based research: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, 33-41.
