One PlanetUnity
We grow with our members as field researchers on the front lines of climate change — pairing environmental science with environmental anthropology to study how communities adapt, advocate, and act.
Field Lab at Mt. Gongga:Boundaries and Symbiosis
Jiagenba, Garzê, Sichuan · up to 4,500m on the Tibetan Plateau · July 20–27, 2026 · 8 days
For eight days, ten high-school researchers lived alongside Khampa pastoral communities at the foot of Mt. Gongga. We learned that climate change, cultural loss, and livelihood pressure cannot be understood from a classroom — they must be walked, observed, and interviewed. Working with a Living Buddha of Lenggu Monastery, folk artisans, herder families, and a former tech-executive estate steward, students produced their own field journals, research reports, micro-documentaries, design proposals, and policy recommendations. The cohort closed the trip by co-authoring the Snow Mountain Declaration, a youth statement on rangelands, adaptation, and the UN 2026 International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
Ecology
Grassland degradation, plateau biodiversity, climate adaptation.
Livelihoods
Yak and highland barley economies, ecotourism boundaries, carbon & ecological compensation.
Culture
Khampa traditional ecological knowledge, cultural-symbol revival, intergenerational transmission.
From field notes to policy voice
One Planet Unity was founded by students who believe that the most urgent environmental problems are local, and that youth voice is strongest when it is grounded in real evidence. We are a student-led environmental research and advocacy collective. Our work combines environmental science and environmental anthropology: we measure ecosystems, listen to communities, and translate findings into public proposals and policy voice.
We do not do "everything sustainability." We focus on what we have actually done: embedded field research in mountain pastoral communities, youth-led waste reduction on campus, and peer advising for students who want to study environmental science.
Our researchers go on to present at UN-affiliated youth forums, environmental NGO briefings, and university admissions conversations — as both scientists and advocates.
What drives us forward
Global Perspective
Global problems, local evidence. We research where change actually happens.
Community-Centered
We work with the people affected, not about them.
Rigorous Inquiry
Field notes, data, and interviews before opinion.
Youth Voice
We turn findings into proposals the world actually reads.
Making impact through action
Four ways we turn field learning into action — from mountain herder interviews to cafeteria compost bins and kindergarten classrooms.
Revitalization of Tibetan Handicrafts
On the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, we watched climate change and ecological degradation push herder communities into direct conflict with wildlife — blue bears, snow leopards. We co-founded Revitalization of Tibetan Handicrafts to sell Khampa handicrafts directly to global buyers, channeling income back to the households we studied. To date the program has raised $1,200 for local families and our team has conducted 20 structured herder interviews on shifting wildlife populations, environmental change, and how livelihoods are transforming.
Campus Composting Lab
We turn cafeteria food scraps — vegetable peels, fruit peels, eggshells, coffee grounds — and TCM herbal dregs into nutrient-rich compost. Students run the tumbler bins and monitor temperature, moisture, pH, and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in real time (our last reading: 48.4°C and climbing). Finished compost feeds campus greening or is donated to local farms.
Young Naturalists: Kindergarten Entomology Workshops
We designed and taught a hands-on science curriculum for local kindergarteners — what makes an insect (three body parts, six legs, two antennae), plus stories and crafts around butterflies, bees, ants, and dragonflies. Students lead the lessons themselves, turning ecological observation into the next generation's curiosity.
Get involved
Sustainability Summit
Hear from industry leaders and activists about the future of sustainability.
Meet the team
Dedicated student leaders working together to drive positive change on campus and beyond.
Jinshan Dai
Founder & Chairman
from Beijing National Day School
Bolin Li
School Manager
from Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University
Ruohong Wu
School Manager
from The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China-International Curriculum Center
Fengrui Yao
School Manager
from Beijing No. 101 Middle School International Department
Zhiyu Chen
School Manager
from Beijing National Day School
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