Global Village Beijing's mission is to advance sustainable development in China by creating community environmental awareness and enhancing public participation.

Mission Statement:

GVB's mission is

to help China to achieve sustainable development

by increasing public awareness and

enhancing public participation .

Founded in 1996 as one of the first NGOs in China, Global Village of Beijing (GVB) is a non-government, non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education and civil society strengthening. GVB's environmental campaigns focus on the promotion of sustainable development and a green life-style. Its main functions include the production of environmental television programs and other publications, the organization of journalist trainings, the development of green communities, the organization of public events and forums and several other projects in the field of sustainable development and consumption.

Additionally, as a Chinese grassroots portal of United States Environmental Programme (UNEP), GVB is an implementation carrier of Chinese projects of international environmental organizations. GVB has established a stable network of Chinese partner-NGOs and is constantly promoting communication between national and international partners, NGOs, corporations and public officials through forums, consultations and newsletters. In February 2003 GVB started editing and distributing the monthly newsletter Voices of Grassroots in Chinese and English to offer other NGOs a platform to express themselves, to facilitate the communication of environmental messages and to support networking and capacity building in partner organizations.

GVBs office is located in ChaoYang District of eastern Beijing and currently has 15 office staff and over 1000 officially registered volunteers in its grassroots network.

GVB's founder and president is Ms. Sheri Liao, who graduated from Zhongshan University in 1986 with a Master degree in Philosophy. After working at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, she was a visiting scholar in Environmental Politics at the University of North Carolina. Committed to developing environmental education in China, she returned to Beijing to found GVB in 1996.

GVB:
· In 1998, was appointed to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)
· In 1999, joined the NGO Regional Focal Point
· In 2001, became the Environmental Country Portal to UNEP
· In 2002, joined of a delegation of Chinese NGOs that attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
· In 2006, was rewarded one of the ten Most Effective Think-Tank Organizations in China.
· In 2006, won the prize of 2006 Best Chinese NGO.

In 2002, Sheri became an Environmental Advisor of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. In 2006, she participated in making of Green Olympics Action Plan. She also planned and promoted Green Olympics Public Participation Action in next four years.

Owing to its tireless pioneering efforts, GVB's has been featured in the national as well as international media such as CNN, NHK, Start TV, News Week, and Reuters. As one of seven environmental specialists, Sheri Liao, the founder and president of GVB, was invited for the panel discussion with President Clinton, when he visited China in 1998. In 2000, Ms. Liao accepted the Sophie Prize for Leadership in the Environment on behalf of GVB. A year later, in 2001 she accepted the International Banksia Award for environmental achievements. In 2005, Sheri was rewarded Annual economic figure Social commonweal Award by China Central Television (CCTV). In 2006, she was honoured Green Chinese Annual Figure.