Hongyan Gu
Research Associate
- INSTITUTE:
- UNU-IAS
- OFFICE:
- Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, 220-8502 Yokohama
- E-MAIL:
- PHONE:
- +81 45 221-2344
- NATIONALITY:
- China
Research Interests
Environmental governance
State-society relations
Traditional KnowledgeEducation
Bachelor, Economics, Shanghai International Studies University
Ph.D., Government and International Relations, University of SydneyBiographical Statement
Hongyan Gu joined the UNU Institute for Advanced Studies’ Biodiplomacy Initiative Programme as a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow in September 2010, with an adjunct affiliation to Sophia University, Tokyo. Hongyan’s research interests lie in the intersection of environmental history, politics and sociology of knowledge. Her current research project explores the relationship between traditional forest-related knowledge and biodiversity conservation in southwest China — one of the world’s most biologically and culturally diverse areas. It aims to promote greater understanding of traditional knowledge with a view to reconciling the tension between development and environment.
Hongyan was born in Shanghai, China and received a Bachelor of Economics degree from Shanghai International Studies University in 2002. She then worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte in their Shanghai offices. During her work-related travels, Hongyan became acutely aware and interested in environmental issues in China and neighbouring East Asian countries. This motivated her to embark on doctoral studies at the Department of Government and International Relations in the University of Sydney. Her Ph.D. thesis examines the co-constitutive relationship between state-making and environmental knowledge-making in China and Japan. It was awarded the University of Sydney 2009 Best Social Sciences Ph.D. Prize. Her previous awards include Japan Foundation doctoral fellowship (affiliated with Nagoya University, 2007-2008) and Sasakawa Peace Foundation scholarship (2001). Hongyan is a native speaker of Mandarin and is fluent in English and Japanese.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
- Gu, Hongyan, Jiao, Yuanmei, and Liang, Luohui (2012). “Strengthening the Socio-ecological Resilience of Forest-dependent Communities: the Case of the Hani Rice Terraces in Yunnan, China”, Forest Policy and Economics, vol. 22, pp. 53-59.
Technical Papers, Policy Briefs, etc
- Gu, Hongyan and Subramanian, Suneetha. M. (2012), “Socio-ecological Production Landscapes: Relevance to the Green Economy Agenda”, UNU-IAS policy report 2012/No.7, ISBN: 978-92-808-4535-8.
Other Publications (Conference Proceedings, etc)
- Gu, Hongyan and Chen, Xueli (2011). “Sacred groves sustain bio-cultural richness in Yunnan Stone forest”, Our World 2.0, 24 June 2011.
- Gu, Hongyan, “Summary of the Third International Conference on Forest Related Traditional Knowledge and Culture in Asia: Satoyama and Biodiversity”, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature – China Newsletter “Ten-Chi-Jin”, April 2011, No. 14, p.9.
- Gu, Hongyan, “The Development of Ethnoecology in China and its Policy Implications for Forest Conservation”, Conference proceeding for The Third International Conference on Forest Related Traditional Knowledge and Culture in Asia, Kanazawa, Japan, 14-15 December 2010.
