Inner Mongolian Grasslands

Last month Professor Ken Peattie a co-director in the Sustainable Places Research Institute, made a presentation at the Management School within the Agricultural University of Inner Mongolia in China about the implications of sustainability for management research and teaching agenda. Professor Peattie discussed sustainable place-based research opportunities with scholars from the Management School and the rest of the University, who are leading research efforts into the social, economic and environmental dimensions of restoring and rejuvenating the Mongolian grasslands.

Inner Mongolia has become China's second largest producer of coal in recent years, while the traditional nomadic lifestyle has come under multiple assault from open-cast mining, over-grazing, enclosed farming, migration and global warming. This boom in mining and mineral industries has polluted the grasslands and marginalised herders who have lived off the land for generations.

Rejuvenating the Mongolian grasslands is a major priority for the Chinese government in the face of continuing problems posed by the over-exploitation and desertification of grassland areas. This is highlighted in the Chinese best-seller and now movie blockbuster 'Wolf Totem' (an epic story that also formed a recurring theme in Ken's presentation).