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from 2004 to 2024, a total of 2,037 entrepreneurs (as of august 31, 2024) have stayed at the alxa see environmental protection charity platform. some have left, while others have stayed. today, nearly 600 entrepreneurs have gathered here, and it is still the most professional, credible and socially influential entrepreneur environmental protection charity organization in china.

to a certain extent, in the torrent of the times full of changes and unknowns, the glory, setbacks and achievements that alashan see has experienced in the past 20 years reflect the awakening of the collective consciousness of chinese entrepreneurs, or the development and changes of the times and environment.

a model

on the morning of june 5, 2004, the alxa see ecological association was formally established in a voting election by a group of entrepreneurs, and liu xiaoguang passionately read out the alxa declaration. media reports interpreted it as a sign that contemporary entrepreneurship has entered a new era and "provided an organizational model of republican governance for the transformation of china's public sphere."

on june 4, 2004, entrepreneurs of all sizes, who managed a total of about 2 trillion yuan in assets, gathered at the moon lake. that night, after much confusion, everyone finally reached a consensus.

we hope that china's economy will become more and more developed, and its people will become more and more prosperous. we hope that people will be more friendly and kind to each other. we hope that china will be beautiful and full of vitality. we hope that people around the world will live together in a beautiful global village. we dream of a world of great harmony where everyone has the opportunity to realize their wishes. - from the alashan declaration

this is the first time that chinese entrepreneurs have entered into environmental protection charity in the form of a group republic. the significance it carries may not be limited to the operation of environmental protection projects themselves. it also highlights that over the past 20 years, against the backdrop of the continuous development of commercial civilization, the entrepreneurial group has begun to explore public affairs, which is an awakening of civic consciousness.

an important mission of alxa see is to encourage entrepreneurs to participate in public welfare and environmental protection activities, and to consciously assume more ecological and social responsibilities with funds and actions. through member development, member maintenance and member services, we will maintain a steady growth in the number of members and promote the establishment of china's most influential entrepreneur environmental protection platform.

however, in the initial development stage, how can these big men who have the final say in the company compromise and work together under the equal decision-making model of "one person, one vote"? in the early years, in the eyes of the media and other outside observers, "holding meetings, quarreling, and changing the charter" were the "three things" that were indispensable in the rules of procedure of this organization.

but there is no doubt that in alxa see, it is based on the organizational and cultural genes of fairness and checks and balances, as well as the concept of "putting power in a cage", that has achieved the long-term environmental protection public welfare of "institutional victory". as mentioned earlier, 2037 chinese entrepreneurs have gathered and separated on this environmental protection public welfare platform, but every "gathering" moment is based on the same values ​​and their own concerns about china's environment. these entrepreneurs and all caring enterprises, the public, and environmental protection public welfare partners are important participants, promoters, and contributors to the environmental protection cause.

as the founding president liu xiaoguang said, "we use alxa see to explore the symbiosis between man and nature and interpret the social responsibility of entrepreneurs. alxa see carries many of our ideals for nature and society, including social norms, integrity system, public welfare actions, civic awareness, and democratic construction."

relay inheritance amidst "change and constancy"

alashan see never shy away from failure. some of its early projects were not particularly successful. in the opinion of yang ping, the founding secretary general, the reasons behind this include the contradiction between the entrepreneurs and the professional team, the short term of the president, the difficulty in continuing the long-term strategy, and the long-term and complex nature of china's rural problems.

this is a double-edged sword. alashan see also uses both edges to maximize the resources and capabilities of each governance team.

from 2005 to 2008, alxa see tried more than 20 projects with local communities, including greenhouse projects, dairy farming projects, and biogas projects. these initial explorations were aimed at fundamentally solving the livelihood problems of herders. however, these projects basically ended in failure. later, it was discovered that only by combining local actual conditions, finding alternative industries for herders, and combining environmental protection with poverty alleviation in the community development model, can the key to truly solving the desertification problem be achieved.

in 2006, the founding president liu xiaoguang invited domestic and foreign experts to form a strategic committee to conduct a one-month investigation in the alxa region. after the investigation, the positioning of alxa see was determined as follows: within 3-5 years, with the alxa region as the focus and community development projects as the core, to form successful cases and provide experience and models that can be promoted for the governance of desertification and sandstorms in china.

for the first time, alxa see organized experts to conduct a strategic survey of the alxa region and formulate development directions, which had a far-reaching impact on the development of the organization.

on july 28, 2007, the annual board of directors of alxa see voted to pass the strategic adjustment of "based on alxa, not limited to alxa". this means that in addition to desertification control, ecological protection and endangered species protection are also taken as their own responsibilities, and environmental protection business is extended to all provinces and cities across the country. in december 2008, based on the above strategy, alxa see ecological association initiated the establishment of see foundation (registered name: beijing entrepreneur environmental protection foundation).

in december 2014, the foundation was upgraded to a public fundraising foundation, with the goal of becoming an incubator to support china's environmental protection charitable organizations.

in 2016, the sixth governance team proposed "asset restructuring" to further focus on environmental protection business. qian xiaohua, the sixth president, said, "public welfare requires the modern management experience of entrepreneurs, and the entire process of public offering product design, fundraising, execution, and evaluation and auditing requires business wisdom."

in the past 20 years, with nine presidents, the alashan see charter has been revised 14 times in order to continuously adapt to the development of the organization. a media report wrote: "for this organization, people can be replaced, systems can be revised, and culture can be adjusted, but the flag handed over by the president is an unchangeable and firm inheritance."

each president has a different governance style and work focus. each push is also a steady move forward based on the "predecessor". during the term of the ninth governance team, the alxa see project topics have been continuously integrated, refined and extended by sorting out brand strategies, expanding diversified donation channels, and promoting project updates. including the see foundation, the eight environmental protection foundations initiated and established have focused on local environmental protection projects, expanding to form a broader and more three-dimensional environmental protection pattern, and achieving a win-win situation from "public participation" to "industry awareness".

_{alxa see brand ecology}

building a new business civilization requires the efforts and practice of every participating enterprise. similarly, in alxa see, under the principle of equality and checks and balances, we must inherit the original intention of environmental protection and public welfare gathered in the yurts in the tengger desert. each governance team has a heavy responsibility and must work hard to mobilize the resources and strength of each entrepreneur within a two-year term (the seventh governance team has a term of three years), develop environmental protection projects, improve fundraising capabilities, and promote business to a deeper level.

achieving common progress between institutions and society

some people believe that entrepreneurship mainly includes the spirit of innovation, the spirit of contractual cooperation and the spirit of social responsibility. "innovation" is the core and soul of entrepreneurship, "social responsibility" is the foundation of entrepreneurship, and "contractual cooperation" is the way and means for entrepreneurship to continue. none of the three can be missing.

take the see foundation as an example. since its public fundraising in 2014, the environmental protection projects it has focused on have become relatively mature, covering almost all the world's hot environmental protection issues, including desertification control, climate change and business sustainability, coastal wetland protection, biodiversity protection, nature education, yangtze river protection, green supply chain, industry development support, etc. it has also linked and driven more than 1,200 environmental protection charitable organizations in china to protect the environment and promote change together.

however, exploring the social significance of a company or an organization is not just about the value it creates, but also about observing whether it can provide a successful example and whether the model is sustainable. the implementation of environmental protection projects is the business of environmental protection public welfare organizations. what we want to see is the driving force it brings to society beyond its rights and responsibilities.

one of the public values ​​of social organizations is to help solve various problems in the development of today's society. in alxa see, entrepreneurs bring business wisdom and market thinking into the field of environmental protection. by "teaching people how to fish", they create value and guide people to be good while carrying out local environmental protection projects. through universal education, they inspire others to participate in environmental protection, and achieve the goal of value co-creation, mutual benefit, and collaborative interaction among all parties, thereby truly driving local residents to participate and making the project sustainable.

for example, in the alxa region, the income of local herders has been increased by enhancing the derivative economic value of haloxylon ammodendron; in the northwestern qinling mountains, the "iris township rice" public welfare product was launched and listed through the "iris field one point" project; in the southwestern mountainous areas where rare and endangered species such as the yunnan golden monkey are distributed, the large-scale breeding of himalayan bees is promoted... this method of combining environmental protection public welfare projects with the local people's poverty alleviation and prosperity has linked public welfare products with the market, developed ecological industries that conform to the laws of nature, built an effective path for the connection between communities and markets, made ecological protection projects sustainable, and achieved a win-win situation for ecology and economy.

this model has also helped alashan see achieve common progress between the institution and society, and has important social value in promoting the sustainable development of the community economy and contributing to the strategic goal of common prosperity.

the past 20 years have been an important stage for the rapid growth of china's non-profit organizations. it is also a historical moment for china to build the most stringent ecological environmental protection system through the establishment of rules, systems and accountability. the national environmental information disclosure system has been gradually established, and the cause of ecological protection and restoration has made great progress. especially since the 18th national congress of the communist party of china, the construction of ecological civilization has been vigorously promoted with unprecedented strength. alxa see has also handed in a "report card" in the era when china has created ecological miracles and green development miracles.

from a group to an organization, and then to professional and institutional operations, there are more environmental protection public welfare organizations like alashan see, which are striving to enhance the visibility and influence of chinese non-governmental organizations by stepping onto the communication platform built according to international environmental protection rules in terms of protecting the harmonious coexistence of people and nature and continuously exploring the value of social organizations for sustainable development.

author: gu yuehu