Understanding “sustainability” and attitudes of students to the concept of “sustainable development” in China and the UK

This chapter is an investigation into the way(s) that words and phrases such as, “sustainability” and “the environment” are used within China and the UK. It is a comparative analysis of responses from 18 to 21 year old students of Architecture in both countries – carried out by questionnaire sampling of students from both regions – and provides an initial assessment of the extent and possible meaning of any key differences in understanding of these terms. The discourse on sustainability is well-established in the UK but is not regularly taught as mainstream in Chinese universities, and yet many tutors, lecturers and practitioners educated outside China who are employed or guest lecture in our particular joint China-British university (and evidence shows that this also happens in other Chinese universities) are bringing a Western educational language of sustainability to Chinese students. In my experience, this has led to some discussion among students and this paper – concerning itself with issues related to sustainability – is the start of a wider assessment of social, cultural, practical and political differences in the classroom: in the West and in China. Drawing on a comparison of student responses from one Chinese university and three academically comparable universities in the UK – including questionnaire responses from 115 students studying in UK and 321 students studying in China (436 respondents in total), I examine their understanding of sustainability that might facilitate the use of these concepts more meaningfully. My findings indicate that there are clear disparities between students in China and UK reflecting a different understanding of expectations, settings and context.