Working with Rivers: Integrating Geomorphic Principles into Ecological Civilization in China
Emerging approaches to ecological civilization in China are rooted in long-standing sociocultural relations of living and working with nature. Rivers lie at the heart of these relationships. In this Perspective, we outline three fluvial geomorphic principles that can underpin moves towards ecological civilization: (1) a holistic lens that manages the land to manage the river, from source to outlet; (2) a living river ethos that works with rivers as adjusting systems rather than stable/static entities, applying process-based measures at the catchment scale; and (3) an evolutionary (future-focused) perspective applies adaptive management strategies, proactively working towards realistically achievable goals and recognizing inevitable uncertainties associated with emergent traits. Framed within a bioregional approach, we draw on published studies from the Source Zone of the Yellow River to illustrate opportunities and challenges in facilitating moves towards ecological civilization in China. The contribution of this Perspective lies in linking these established principles to existing policy instruments: the River Chief System and the Happy River Index provide helpful stepping stones towards an ecological civilization, and they could incorporate geomorphic indicators of river health more explicitly. These principles may also inform comparable efforts to work with rivers elsewhere in the world.
Authors
- Lishan Ran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4386-1471)
- He Qing Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7788-6549)
- Yan Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4520-1458)
- Meiqin Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4880-4628)
- Zhiwei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2870-7265)
- Yuanxu Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0551-920X)
- Baotian Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2864-5954)
- Xianyan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8281-5734)
- Gary Brierley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1310-1105)
- Kun Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9259-8182)
- Xixi Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2528-4631)
- Shimin Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5089-196X)
- Bing Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6656-7761)
- Hongshan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0177-4695)
- Xilai Li
- Hanbo Sun
- Xiaolu Dong
Institutions
- Qinghai University (CN)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Padua (IT)
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- China University of Geosciences (CN)
- Wuhan University (CN)
- Aerospace Information Research Institute (CN)
- Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture (CN)
- Lanzhou University (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Water
- Published
- 2026-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/w18212703
- Primary Topic
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China