INTRODUCTION
The China Environment and Sustainable Development Reference and Research Centre (CESDRRC) opened in March 1998. It is part of the Centre for Environmental Education and Communication (CEEC) of the Chinese State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). As China’s largest public-sector library and information centre dedicated to the environment and sustainable development it fulfils a crucial educational objective.
The centre's mission is to make environmental knowledge accessible to the general public by providing resources, sharing knowledge, and building international networks. Information is researched and integrated knowledge shared on issues of environmental protection and sustainable development.
Open to public use, the CESDRRC gives access to up-to-date information through a wide range of research services, various media such as electronic data, videos, journals, and books. The centre's services are unique particularly because of the broad variety of information resources available and the mixed international team, which encourages cross-disciplinary research. It is the only facility with the specific responsibility to serve Chinese government institutions together with domestic and international NGO's, educational institutions, academics, international aid organisations and the press.
