Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

MORE than 50 makers, designers and tech-enthusiasts from different backgrounds gathered this past weekend at the SDG Open Science Creative Camp at Chaihuo x.factory in Nanshan District to explore creative plans for Shenzhen’s sustainable development, a featured activity of the 2020 National Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week Shenzhen Venue and the Sixth Shenzhen International Maker Week.

The SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are a collection of 17 interlinked goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” as established in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

The camp organizers presented 10 Shenzhen-related topics for camp members to research about and then the members will propose creative solutions after two days’ training on open-source hardware and software and coding. The 10 topics are garbage sorting and recycling, reducing food waste, treating ocean pollution, improving air quality, building efficient pavements and bike lanes, water saving, protecting stray cats and dogs, caring for special children, protecting trees and plants and improving public traffic.

Their plans will be assessed and reviewed by experts from the Open FIESTA Lab in Tsinghua University, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Shenzhen Longyue Charity Foundation and the Shenzhen Green Building Association.

“The U.N.’s SDGs focus on unsolved problems in the world, such as pollution, starvation and education. We hope through this camp we can organize young people from different backgrounds to use new technologies to solve problems on sustainable development. Next, we will hold additional camps in other cities, cooperate with more departments and seek business and entrepreneurship opportunities for makers,” said Eric Pan, founder of Seeed Studio, a Shenzhen technology service company that provides open hardware and agile manufacturing services. He is also the founder of Chaihuo x.factory and Maker Faire Shenzhen.

“As a national model base of innovation and entrepreneurship, Nanshan District now tops the city with 264 incubation bases and maker spaces. The small and medium-sized tech enterprises here can receive loan interest subsidies from the government. We hope some creative plans at the camp can be transformed into projects in Nanshan,” said Liu Xiaolin, director of Nanshan District Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Service Center.

Past open-science SDG projects are being exhibited at Chaihuo x.factory at Design Commune, Vanke Cloud City, in Nanshan District until Wednesday.

China’s 2020 National Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week is being held from Oct. 15 to 21, involving activities held across the country under the theme “Innovation leads entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship drives employment.”