Greennovate is a broad network of sustainability-consulting veterans, marketers, designers, engineers, and educators working on “green” initiatives that will assist in the growth of China-based companies. Believing that end-of-pipe solutions are a false way of doing business, Greennovate aspire to create a fundamental shift in the way that businesses in China think about sustainability: while many businesses consider sustainable practices a liability, Greennovate aims to demonstrate how they can be a valuable asset to any firm, and how they will be an essential part of the business future for everyone.

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Find out more about at Greennovate.net and follow Greennovate founder, Mihela Hladin, on twitter @greennovate. You can also see a video of Mihela Hladin, speaking at TEDxShanghai here.
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“Smart and Mini Architecture for Local communities and Low income,” or SMALL Architecture, was founded by architect, Li Ye, and is the Beijing chapter of Architecture for Humanity. Barely a year old, SMALL have undertaken a number of socially-led projects to offer design as a service to the often forgotten local Chinese communities. We met with Li Ye this month to discover more about the organization and working as an NGO in China.

Notes on Design: Can you tell us about SMALL Architecture. When was it founded and why?

Li Ye: SMALL was formally founded in July 2009. We provide an architectural service to those who require non-commercial work, and our clients are usually local communities who do not have much money (i.e. low income). In this context, we consider design as a social service.

The concept for SMALL was actually formulated in the summer of 2008 when I was ready to graduate from Tsinghua University’s School of Architecture. Most of my classmates chose paths like real estate or architectural firms for quick money or fame, but I felt I wanted to do something different. I took a break between university and “starting a career”, and tried to do something non-profit; I wanted to see what I would learn this way.

Fortunately, I found my partner, Xiao Zhen, who works in real estate. Also in our team are Hao Xue (law background), Rong Xiao and Huang Zheng (architecture) and Zara Arshad (design). We are currently focusing on small projects to fulfill SMALL’s vision.

Tulou Housing project, Fujian province.

Notes on Design: What is your relationship to Architecture for Humanity (AfH)?

Li Ye: SMALL was registered as AfH’s financially independent Beijing chapter. Chinese regulation, however, enforces very strict control over border cash flow. If you operate as a branch of a foreign firm or NGO, you cannot accept local donations or investment. This severely limits our work, so we decided to run the financial aspect of our organization independently. Our aim, however, definitely remains the same as AfH – bringing design services to communities in need. Read the rest of this entry »

Sean Gallagher is a British photographer based in China. He has lived and worked across the world, spending extended periods of time in locations as diverse as Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, the UAE and Europe. His most recent work focuses on social and environmental issues, such as desertification and its effects across China, and has recently been published in National Geographic China and The New York Times, and screened at the COP15 Climate Change summit in Copenhagen as part of the Earth Journalism Awards. We spoke with Sean, upon his most recent return to Beijing from Inner Mongolia, to discover more.

Notes on Design: What brought you to Beijing?

Sean: In 2004, I was chosen to undertake a 1-year paid internship at the London office of photojournalism agency, Magnum Photos. At the end of this internship (in 2005), I was awarded a grant, which allowed me to buy a plane ticket to pretty much anywhere I wanted to go. At that time, it seemed obvious to me that China was the story of the moment. Within a few weeks of finishing the internship, I booked a ticket to Beijing.

Notes on Design: How did you get into photography?

Sean: I’m completely self-taught, having first picked up a camera during my studies in Zoology at university in England. Upon completing my degree, I worked various part-time jobs; during my free time, I built my own darkroom and taught myself how to print black and white photos from books loaned from the local library. Read the rest of this entry »

NLGX is a Beijing-based design community and brand founded by Ed Hung and Michel Sutyadi in 2008. After witnessing first-hand the changes taking place in China’s ancient capital city, Michel and Ed decided to capture the new spirit of the city with a fresh and unique lifestyle brand. Inspired by Beijing’s development into a multicultural melting pot of artists, entrepreneurs, travelers and global-minded individuals, together as NLGX they create original designed apparel. Notes on Design spoke to Ed and Michel this week to uncover more about the NLGX journey.

Notes on Design: Where are you both from, and how did you meet?

NLGX: Ed was born and raised in San Francisco, USA whilst I was born and raised in Germany. Both of us, however, are of Chinese descent, which makes our move to China a bit of a homecoming (albeit, a generation or two later). We actually met in Beijing back in 2005, after each having spent some time at Wudaokou (Beijing’s “student central”) studying Mandarin.

Notes on Design: Why did you decide to set up NLGX?

NLGX: The sequence of events that led to the birth of NLGX were quite random and opportunistic, like many new ventures; from a friend’s Christmas party, Ed deciding to “rough it” by living in the hutongs (the Old City of Beijing), a blog about a trendy hutong neighbourhood in Beijing called Nanluoguxiang, a lunch at a backpackers café, to a small “For Rent” sign on a dusty window. Our flagship store, subsequently, opened in March 2008 on Nanluoguxiang. Read the rest of this entry »

Originally from South Korea, Currie Lee is a fashion designer now based in Beijing. After retiring from law, Currie founded DimSum of all things Asian: D-SATA by CuR, an ethics-based brand that subtly incorporates luxury fashion with social and environmental concern. Her products are carefully crafted with upcycled, natural materials, such as snake, fish and frog skin (originally caught for consumption in local Asian villages); all pieces are also manufactured in Southeast Asian “cottage industries” by women who earn a living income (vs. minimum wage). In an exceptional demonstration of social responsibility, Currie illustrates that “going green and ethical” does not necessarily mean boring and low-market. We caught up with her to find out more.

Notes on Design: Where are you originally from and what brought you to Beijing?

Currie: I was born in South Korea, raised in Canada and educated in both the US and China. I haven’t really been able to decide on if/where to settle down, and consider myself to be “a girl of the world” as a result. I arrived in Beijing about 5 years ago to complete my second LLM in Chinese Law at Peking University, and I was also working at King & Wood law firm; I have just not been able to leave!

Read the rest of this entry »