Abstract: Departing from the traditional paradigm of “prequel” which is greatly concerned with the pre-conditions， prediction methods and evolutionary process， this study explored the environmental protest and was focused on the “aftereffect” of such protest， namely energy release and social construction. In particular， the transformation path from environmental protest to environmental governance was highlighted. Based on the grounded research on the typical case of anti-waste incineration plants in Panyu， Guangdong Province， the transformation path model consisting of 6 core categories was constructed. This process was described as below: the energy released from environmental protests provides a “trigger” and “transformation cornerstone”， brings in reforms in the four dimensions including issue， identity， organization and action under the joint efforts of “catalysts”， and finally achieves successful transformation through the strengthened effectiveness of “stabilizers” that ensure the continuity of environmental governance. On the basis of the experience drawn from this case， new ideas and strategies were put forward from the perspectives of governance concept， governance structure and governance mechanism.

Key words: environmental protest, environmental governance, governance transformation, grounded research