Introduction

The research team based at the University of Waterloo, Canada, has been conducting research in the rapidly developing ecological agriculture sector in China since 2009. This chapter describes the context for the study, our unique team, our objectives, methods, and the evolution of our research as it unfolded. It also explains the connotations and implications of some important Chinese terms, such as sustainable agriculture, ecological agriculture, and agroecology, which are relevant to the themes of the book.