黄河三角州居民水上生活
参赛者:Jiaxin Tan
院校:University of Bonn, Germany
These posters were developed in complimentary addition to my study about the emergence of industrial water pollution in the Yellow River Delta (YRD). The study project took place in Dongying City from May 2014 to April 2015. The main objective of the posters is to increase people’s awareness about water risks, through elaborating the situation of people’s living and coping in face of industrial water pollution in the YRD. The posters reflect the functionality of visual materials – as a communicative tool - for information dissemination and awareness raising about environmental pollution in contemporary China. Water is critical for sustaining a productive economy to live healthy lives, for producing our food, energy and other basic commodities. However, rapid industrialization and urbanization in China have brought serious challenges to water resources management. These posters zoom in on industrial water pollution in Dongying City, which is located within the YRD. In Dongying, the emergence of industrial enterprises triggered environmental issues such as soil pollution, decline of water, air quality and ecosystem services. In relation to water resources management, the intensive industrial activities produced significant volumes of untreated wastewater and solid waste, which resulted in the heavy pollution of the receiving water bodies. The dense factories distributed in the coastal areas have contributed significant amounts of industrial wastewater to the Bohai Bay. The decline of marine resources of the Bohai Bay also affected substantially the livelihood of local fishermen. Through the 12-month ethnographic studies in the YRD, it is found that local inhabitants develop reflexive strategies to cope with the situation. For example, people endeavour to create green space in their daily-life setting to “avoid” the effects of industrial pollution. Furthermore, people try to become reconciled with the dramatic environmental changes and perceive it “normal”, in the process of modernization and economic development. Through the posters I intend to sensitise the audience about the relation between the waterscape and inhabitants who are living closely by the water. Apart from raising concern of water risks, the posters were designed to document people’s coping and adaptation in face of water pollution. These perspectives might inspire citizens to reflect the human-nature relation, to raise their concern about water resources conservation for wellbeing.