China is undergoing the largest demographic transition in history as about 200 million rural residents (migrants) come to urban areas for work—especially in the new economic development zones. Strikes, suicides, high abortion rates and other problems have created a crisis situation.
For the past 3 years, a collaboration has been underway to adapt the “UC Berkeley Participatory Model” to support migrant workers and businesses. UC Berkeley, factories, government and Nanjing You-Dian University are assessing the strategies and results in this novel worker-engaged project. In this talk, we will discuss the approach, successes and challenges to date.