DANBURY, CONN. — Dr. Chris Kukk has found that his experience in exploring the public policy implications of environmental issues has provided a natural introduction to opening doors and dialogue with academics and policy makers around the globe, from Vietnam to Estonia. But he never expected that he would soon find a place at the table in a pioneering international project that offers a model for future collaboration between the United States and China on water policy and other global environmental challenges.

Kukk, associate professor of political science at Western Connecticut State University, has been selected as one of 12 young American professionals from academic, business, government and water resource institutions as Water Here and There International Fellows (WH&T IF). They will join 12 Chinese participants with similar professional experience to collaborate in research exchanges on water-related resource issues relevant to both countries. The WH&T IF program, cosponsored by the Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) and the International Fund for China’s Environment (IFCE), receives funding from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

“It’s great to see that two of the most important countries in the world, politically and economically, have set up a second rail of diplomacy for dialogue and cooperation on such an important resource issue,” Kukk observed.

“We tackle environmental issues through water resource management in both countries,” he said. “Since we are the two leading protagonists in global forums on the environment, we need to develop ideas and proposals together to address these issues cooperatively.”

In his notification letter to Kukk, AIPT Vice President Dan Ewert said the WH&T IF program aims to promote Sino-American dialogue on global environmental issues involving water resources. “These two important world players have the human and financial resources to effect important change, and people in both nations need to learn to work together to continue to forge productive relationships that yield positive results,” Ewert wrote. The selection criteria targeted “emerging leaders” from ages 22 to 35, drawn from diverse professional backgrounds, with the goal of providing experience and building networks for future international collaborations, he added.

Kukk has been named to a team of six program fellows — including three American and three Chinese participants — assigned to begin policy discussions and research exchanges about strategies to balance economic activity with preservation of a healthy environment. This “virtual” exercise, conducted through a dedicated WH&T IF Web site supplemented by Skype, e-mail and other Internet communication tools, will provide an introduction to international collaboration and require team members to work together to prepare a joint position statement defining how the issue is viewed in each country and proposing effective policy responses.

This opening exercise will lay the groundwork for the subsequent exchange of three-week visits by Chinese participants to the United States in March and April, and by American participants to China during June. These tours will include seminars, lectures, team exercises and field trips to gain first-hand knowledge about major water resource sites at geographically diverse locations in each country. The visit to China will conclude with a two-day workshop bringing together all participants in the program to discuss their experiences and discuss ways to continue and promote future Sino-American collaboration on water management issues.

Kukk wrote his doctoral dissertation on the theme of water scarcity, and investigated water privatization in Vietnam as part of the 2007 WestConn “Red River Project” research trip sponsored by the WCSU President’s Initiatives Fund. He currently teaches an undergraduate course on “Environmental Issues in International Relations” and has participated in community forums and policy studies related to the ecology and management of Candlewood Lake. He applied to the WH&T IF program after WCSU International Services Coordinator Melissa Gluckmann informed him of the opportunity and noted the fellowship requirements closely matched his professional experience.

In addition to his field work in Southeast Asia, Kukk devoted the 2007-08 academic year as a Fulbright Scholar to teaching courses on globalization, environmental policy and political economy at the University of Tartu in Estonia. He also has taken advantage of WestConn’s state-of-the-art videoconferencing technology to team up with a colleague in Switzerland to teach a course on nuclear non-proliferation, enabling students at WestConn and the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations to participate together through a real-time linkup in mock arms control negotiations.

Kukk noted that access to WestConn’s advanced communications technology “allows us to communicate across time zones, and that is critical to this project.” He welcomed the opportunity during the June tour to see China’s water resources on location, noting that it is rare for an American to gain first-hand access to Chinese water facilities that are believed to be among the most technologically advanced in the world.

“I am very interested to see what they’re doing and how it might help us to deal with water management issues here,” he said. “China is opening up a valuable and classified resource to outsiders, and that is a surprising development.”

Viewed against the backdrop of recent US-Chinese conflict over policy responses to global warming and other environmental issues, China’s willingness to engage the United States in an informal dialogue on water management represents a promising, if cautious, step toward cooperation, he said. The Chinese regime’s carefully balanced tolerance of limited freedoms while suppressing popular resistance and dissent seeks to advance the nation’s economic development without undermining its communist political system, he added. “It will be interesting to see whether China’s autocratic system will allow it to move forward more swiftly on green technologies, or whether the United States will wake up and overcome the obstacles to progress caused by our corporate interests.”

China faces a broad range of water resource issues, including expanded access to keep pace with population growth and economic development, accelerated desertification in western and northern regions caused by climate change, and widespread industrial and agricultural pollution of its fresh-water supplies. While recent discovery of two major new aquifers in northern China should help to meet growth demands in the near term, “China remains on the brink of having water scarcity problems countrywide,” he said.

Similar concerns in the United States about the impact of economic development, climate change, urban growth, agriculture and pollution on present and future water resources underscore the urgent need for international cooperation on these issues, Kukk said.

“It’s exciting to be part of this dialogue and to know you can have an impact,” he said. “I feel like a kid in a candy store — I get a chance for my voice to be heard by the leaders of another country! It will be so much fun, but it is also a great responsibility. That’s very humbling.”

For more information, contact Kukk at (203) 837-8247 or kukkc@wcsu.edu, or the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

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