Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

PARTICIPANTS, wearing name cards displaying their interests related to the 17 sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015, engaged in conversations with like-minded individuals at a sharing event held at C Future City in Futian District on Saturday.

The event gathered around 80 people including entrepreneurs, investors and representatives from enterprises and public sectors to exchange ideas on social innovations for sustainable development.

It also witnessed the launch of the Impact Hub Shenzhen Candidate, a commercial institute committed to creating an open and inclusive ecology for social innovations through sustainable solutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The Impact Hub Shenzhen Candidate is part of the global Impact Hub network, which encompasses 107 communities across over 60 countries. It aims to foster a community of impact-driven entrepreneurs, investors and enterprises within various industrial chains, united by their shared interests in seeking sustainable solutions to address a wide range of issues like environmental pollution and disability inclusion, according to Zhao Yuheng, one of the initiators of the Impact Hub Candidate and the founder of SHEN Impact Venture, said during the hub’s launch ceremony.

Since Impact Hub’s first community was established in London in 2005, it has been expanding all over the world in under 20 years. The hubs have supported and incubated more than 25,000 impact projects by innovative startups using sustainable solutions.

“The Shenzhen hub will provide personalized services to community participants and share industry insights based on our team’s research,” Zhao said. “We also launched an incubation program in collaboration with Harmony Community Foundation to support sustainable entrepreneurship.”

The event’s highlight came about when the participants were divided into five groups to discuss different topics regarding sustainable consumption, inclusive development, impact investment, among others.

“I learned a lot from the event, especially the seminar. People shared their views from different perspectives as a customer, a supplier, a business, an investor and a philanthropic organization in sustainable consumption,” Pan Yanwen, an employee at a startup specializing in musical instrument accessories, said. “An industrial insider’s presentation on supply chain optimization broadened my views.”

“Shenzhen lacks platforms for discussing advanced concepts related to sustainable development goals. The newly established community will be a good platform for exchanging ideas with like-minded people,” Pan said.

During the event, Chaoxi, an enterprise that underwent a transformation from a philanthropic organization to a commercial entity, showcased its new knitting products. The products were made by women who are impoverished with disabilities or who live in rural areas.

Guan Chao, the founder of Chaoxi, expressed their eagerness to find partners at Impact Hub Shenzhen Candidate to advance their pursuit of rural revitalization. As a startup navigating through uncertainties, they believe that the community would provide invaluable support.