Eco-Culture
A sound ecosystem is essential for a prosperous civilization. A poor ecosystem may lead to its decline.
An eco-culture promotes harmonious coexistence of humanity with nature, and coordinates the development of both. It embraces classical ideas from Chinese philosophy such as "unity of nature and man," "observance of the laws of nature," "have ample virtue and carry all things, so that they can multiply ceaselessly," "love of everything and coexistence of all in harmony," "heaven and earth coexist with me; all things and I are one," and "balance and harmony, tolerance for coexistence, equality and interdependence for sustainable development." These are all about the relationship between humanity and nature, and provide a code of conduct and the core values of an eco-civilization. Building an eco-culture lays the foundations for building an eco-civilization.
From "centered on nature" to "centered on humanity," and moving on to the idea of harmonious coexistence of humanity with nature, this relationship has undergone profound changes. Building an eco-civilization and an eco-culture confirms human awareness of a historic transformation of the economic development model. This is a wise choice for China, and for the sustainable development of humanity as well.
In April 2015, the central authorities made a decision on promoting an eco-civilization. For the first time, they raised the ideas of fostering an eco-culture as an essential component of public cultural services, incorporating eco-civilization into the system of socialist core values, and strengthening public awareness of the importance of eco-civilization.
In April 2016, the State Forestry Administration published a program on the development of an eco-culture, setting forth an overall plan and key tasks for 2016-2020.
At the National Conference on Eco-environmental Protection in May 2018, Xi Jinping urged the country to foster a culture promoting eco-values, which he listed as one of the five component systems of an eco-civilization.
An eco-culture boosts the mainstream values of an eco-civilization, encourages diligence, frugality, and green, low-carbon and healthy ways of production, life and consumption, and calls for the public to be eco-conscious. It helps people handle their relationship with nature and address prominent problems in the eco-environment, and provides an internally sustainable force for economic and social transformation. Building an eco-culture is important in the current times, as it fits with the construction of an eco-civilization in the new era.
生态文化
生态兴则文明兴，生态衰则文明衰。生态文化以人与自然和谐共生、协同发展为主旨，以“天人合一，道法自然”的生态智慧，“厚德载物，生生不息”的道德意识，“仁爱万物，协和万邦”的道德情怀，“天地与我同一，万物与我一体”的道德伦理，“平衡相安、包容共生，平等相宜、价值共享，相互依存、永续相生”的道德准则，揭示了人与自然关系的本质，树立了人类的行为规范，奠定了生态文明主流价值观的核心理念。生态文化是培植生态文明的根基。
追溯历史，从“以自然为中心”到“以人类为中心”走向“人与自然和谐共生”，人类与自然的关系逐步发生着根本性的转变。生态文明时代的开启，生态文化的崛起，象征着人类生态文明意识的觉醒和经济发展方式的历史性转型，是中国国情之必然，更是人类可持续发展的必由之路。
2015年4月，中共中央、国务院印发《关于加快推进生态文明建设的意见》，首次提出把培育生态文化作为重要支撑，将生态文明纳入社会主义核心价值体系，将生态文化作为现代公共文化服务体系建设的重要内容，加强生态文化的宣传教育，提高全民生态文明意识。2016年4月，国家林业局印发《中国生态文化发展纲要（2016—2020年）》，明确了“十三五”时期生态文化发展总体思路和重点任务。2018年5月，习近平在全国生态环境保护大会上提出加快建立健全以生态价值观念为准则的生态文化体系，并将其纳入生态文明建设“五个体系”。
生态文化传递了生态文明主流价值观，倡导勤俭节约、绿色低碳、文明健康的生产生活方式和消费模式，唤起民众向上向善的生态文化自信与自觉，为正确处理人与自然关系，解决生态环境领域突出问题，推进经济社会转型发展提供内生动力，契合走向新时代生态文明建设的前进方向，具有重要的时代价值。