Call for abstracts: “Risks to life, heritage, and
community on the Yangtze River”
The Confucius Institute and the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape,
Newcastle University, 4-6th of December, 2017.
Call for abstracts
In recent years a growing amount of research has developed on the impact of flooding upon
eco-systems and human settlements within China (Zhang, et al, 2002; Wu, et al. 2012; China
Water Risk, 2016). Within this field of environmental research a smaller number of scholars
have begun to examine the impact of climate change, flooding and soil related pollution upon
the Yangtze River (Zong and Chen, 2000; Zhang, 2005; Jiang, et al. 2004; Editorial Committee,
2007; Jiang, et al. 2008; Xu, & Ma, 2009; Pittock, & Xu, 2011). However, whilst current
research focuses on strategies for the management of flooding, arguably a lot more research
needs to be done to understand the complex threats and risks that flooding, pollution and
industrial development, pose to life (both human and non-human) within and around the
Yangtze. Moreover, arguably the risks of flooding, pollution and industrial development also
pose threats to various forms of tangible and intangible Chinese heritage (natural-humanarchitectural) that have existed for numerous years within and alongside the river. There is a
need to study these risks together with the responses of human and non-human life, to
identify the ways and extent to which living communities have sought to resist, mitigate or
move away from dangers, or to preserve or recreate heritage.
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Responding to these gaps in the extant literature, and exploring a need for more
interdisciplinary research, this symposium, investigates the history, communities and heritage
of the Yangtze River and the potential threats that modern environmental issues have and are
causing to the river. Potential delegates are invited to a 3 day symposium at Newcastle
University, hosted by the Confucius Institute and the School of Architecture, Planning and
Landscape (APL) to submit papers of no more than 5, 000 words on the following themes.
The topics for discussion at the 3 day symposium will be separated by 3 large themes and a
series of minor sub-themes. Day 1 will explore the history and ‘heritage’ of the Yangtze; Day 2
will consider histories and contemporary issues/risks relating to the industrialisation of the
Yangtze and its heritage; and Day 3 will explore potential conservation measures and
resilience strategies in the contemporary moment.
Day 1: will explore the ‘heritage’ of the Yangtze
Symposium participants might consider discussing some of the following topics:

Sub-theme 1: Heritage of the Yangtze? Differing definitions:
Symposium participants might consider discussing some of the following topics:
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How do we define the heritage of the Yangtze River? Problems and issues with
defining heritage and non-heritage?
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Thinking through natural, social and architectural heritage as categories of research
and units of analysis.
-
Historically what forms of natural, human (and social-cultural) and architectural forms
of heritage have existed and still exist alongside the Yangtze?
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But what heritage of the Yangtze is actually in process and/or coming into being?
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What might ‘future’ heritage of the Yangtze look like?
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
Sub-theme 2: natural heritage
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Wildlife/animals within the Yangtze
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What animal and plant based heritage remains?
-
How have communities of animals and wildlife responded to the dangers and risks
posed by the industrialisation of the Yangtze?
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How do local communities relate to the ecological heritage of the Yangtze?
-
What traditions, meanings and associations have emerged that express and relate
people's ecological cultural heritage of the Yangtze?

Sub-theme 3: human heritage
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Agricultural heritage of the Yangtze – human traditions of agriculture and river side
living at the Yangtze
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Yangtze heritage and economies, skills and cultures; fishing, livelihoods and lifestyles
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Intangible and associative heritage including oral histories, memory studies,
nostalgia and other ways of recording people’s lives, perceptions, attitudes and
everyday living practices, whilst living in close proximity to the river.

Sub-theme 4: Architectural, urban and landscape heritage:
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Villages, towns and cities that exist alongside the Yangtze
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UNESCO world heritage water towns including Zhouzhuang Town, Luzhi Town,
Wuzhen Town and Xitang Town (located in the South of the Yangtze River).
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The morphology of towns/cities that reside in river landscapes (how have these
spaces changed with shifts in the physical evolution of the Yangtze?).
-
Treaty ports and their colonial legacy: what are the role of these heritage sites?
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How has cultural heritage reflected the interactions with a constantly changing
landscape?
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What new tangible and intangible heritage is being created as a result of recent
changes with the Yangtze landscape?
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
Sub-theme 5: mutually enforcing relationships
Day 2: will consider histories and contemporary issues relating to the industrialisation and
colonisation of the Yangtze
Sub-theme 1: Origins of the risks to the Yangtze River, the associated wildlife, ecological and
human communities and built heritage. This theme would track human intervention in the
history and evolution of the river including
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When does the Anthropocene begin on the Yangtze?
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Colonial histories and industrialisation relating to the river
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Intensive farming – particularly fishing at the river
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The building of dams
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Deforestation and the Yangtze
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The release of chemical pollutants into the river as a result of industrial growth
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The emptying of sewage and untreated human waste into the river
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Other factors in the development of flooding
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The implications of the loss of biodiversity e.g. the Baiji Dolphin:
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Sedimentology of the river – the rise of sediment

Sub-theme 2: contemporary risks to the natural, human and architectural heritage
of the Yangtze
-
Contemporary understandings of the different levels (scales) required to frame
urban heritage along the Yangtze
-
Contemporary and immediate dangers to people living near the river:
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The consequences of flooding the destruction of housing, homes and everyday life.
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The consequences of pollution the rise of Stomach and Oesophageal cancer
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The destruction of agricultural crops and risks to food security and livelihoods as a
result of flooding and pollution
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The destruction and loss of architectural heritage
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The destruction of the remaining wildlife associated with the river
-
The morphology of towns/cities that reside in river landscapes; how have these
spaces changed with shifts in the industrialisation/colonisation of the Yangtze?

Sub-theme 3: the rise of heritage tourism and new economic issues in relation to the
Yangtze
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Historicizing river tourism along the Yangtze. How can travel literature help us
understand and re-frame the complex identity of townscapes and landscapes along
the Yangtze?
-
Yangtze River Basin Taoist Cultural Heritage and Tourism Development
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Boating on the river; large cruises on the river
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Yangtze gorges scenic spot
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The threats of intense tourism on scenic sites and heritage sites as Wuzhen
Day 3: potential conservation measures and river management resilience strategies/good
practice or relevant theoretical approaches resilience strategies in the contemporary
moment. (Note authors do not necessarily have to talk about the Yangtze; they might draw
upon case studies they are already familiar with).
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Eco-system or nature-based solutions (NBS)
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Building on indigenous knowledge(s)
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Transdisciplinary and co-created solutions
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Policy development
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Eco-museum and management approaches
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The role of academics in building new approaches
Languages
The working languages of the conference will be English and Chinese. Individual papers will
be given 20 minutes (15 minutes presentation plus 5 minutes discussion) if accepted.
Abstracts
Abstracts should be approximately 300 words and should include 6 key words plus a short
biography of 200 words. Authors should submit their abstracts to Ms Andrea Freeman at
[email protected] for blind review. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is
the 5th of May, 2017. After abstracts have been submitted the symposium organisers will
select papers and sessions to be included in the conference. The accepted abstracts will be
returned to authors with the reviewers comments. Authors will be notified by the 17th of
May, 2017 as to whether their abstract has been accepted and will be then be asked to
submit a full paper by the 17th of August. Papers can be up to, but must not exceed 5, 000
words.
Post-conference publication
Full papers will be invited for publication after the conference. All the papers will be peerreviewed and will be submitted for publication in a monograph relating to China, and
heritage published by renowned publishers in due course.
Review of key dates

5th of May, 2017: Deadline for abstract submission
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
17th of May, 2017: Notification of the acceptance of abstracts and the issue of
invitation letters

17th of August, 2017: full paper deadline

17th of September, 2017: Notification of the acceptance of papers

11th of Nov, 2017: Registration deadline
References
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China Water Risk (2016) ‘Counting the cost of China floods’,
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of February, 2017.
Bird, I. (1899) The Yangtze Valley and Beyond, London: John Murray.
Editorial Committee (2007) China's national assessment report on climate change. Beijing:
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