1^st Week – From 1 to 7 November

During the first week of the "Sustainability Tour" online campaign, Rose and Steve started on their journey to explore European Union and its Member States’ sustainable projects across China, also looking to find out what living in a sustainable way really means. Below is an overview of the projects featured in episodes 1 to 4.

Sino-French Environment Month - Guided Bird Nature Tour

Location: Olympic Forest Park, Beijing

Rose joined a team from the Shanshui Nature Conservation Centre in the Olympic Forest Park, to spot different kinds of ducks and geese in the park. During her visit, she talked to some young visitors and volunteers. She further understood that biodiversity conservation is an important part of achieving sustainable development goals. Rose looks forward to discuss on social media about how we can work together to create a more harmonious environment for both migratory birds and for people.

Learn more about the Sino-French Environment Month: Click here.

2021 International Conference on Gender Equality and Corporate Social Responsibility

Location: Liangmaqiao, Beijing

After her adventure exploring biodiversity in the Olympic Forest Park, Rose rode her bike to Liangmaqiao to attend the 2021 International Conference on Gender Equality and Corporate Social Responsibility. The ride from the Olympic Forest Park to Liangmaqiao took 1 hour and 20 minutes and allowed a reduction of more than four kilograms of carbon emissions, comparing to a car drive.  She is happily committed to a low carbon lifestyle.

The 2021 International Conference on Gender Equality and Corporate Social Responsibility highlighted the progress made in the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment, especially in the fields of employment and education. To encourage more companies to be aware of their responsibility in advancing gender equality, speakers identified the main existing barriers to women taking on leadership positions, such as gender discrimination and stereotypes in the workplace.

In his opening speech, EU Ambassador to China Nicolas Chapuis reaffirmed the EU's commitment to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in the workplace, and stated that in order to achieve greater gender equality in both paid and unpaid work, companies should ensure that their response to the new pandemic and post-epidemic recovery measures are gender sensitive. In other words, as Ambassador Chapuis succinctly put it, "without women it is not ok".

Learn more about this event: Click here.

Finalist of the Sino-European Biodiversity Creative Video Competition "Caring for Nature, You and Me"

China-Europe Biodiversity Creative Video Competition 2021 - Tongji University, Shanghai

Steve met nine students selected as finalists at the China-Europe Biodiversity Creative Video Competition 2021. In this competition, the students had shown their understanding of nature and environmental protection through short videos.

Steve first met with one of the third prize winners, Wang Jiaying from Tongji University's School of Media and Arts. Her video starts with a lawn with flowers and trees, which is gradually filled with rubbish, to the point thatthe originally beautiful lawn turns into a rubbish heap. She hopes that the visual impact of the video can warn people of how serious the problem of rubbish disposal.

Learn more about China-Europe Biodiversity Creative Video Competition 2021: Click here

Interview with Francesca, Italian design professor

Location: Tongji University (Yangpu Campus), Shanghai

What kinds of ideas do young university students have to protect our environment? The first idea Francesca shared was related to Steve's passion for cycling: one of her students wanted to develop an exercise software for cyclists, which would record and uploaddistance cycled. This software would record the distance covered and upload the data to one place, where it would be presented in various graphical formats. The student wanted to build a technology stack with these data-transformed graphics that would inspire more people to get interested in cycling.

The second idea shared by the professor came from a team led by Hu Ke'er and Yuan Shuo from Tongji University's School of Design and Creativity, who designed an avant-garde and eco-friendly jacket for runners and athletes. The jacket's raw material contains a special kind of bacteria – “Power Mutualism” electrical energy symbiosis. It is a lightweight, flexible, mobile, green wearable self-driven cyanobacterial power generating material, that generates energy and glows as long as it is worn for exercise, without the need for recharging. It is perfect for night running or night riding.

Over the past week, Rose and Steve have gained interesting and unexpected insights into the practice of sustainability: Rose has been thinking deeply about the relationship between social issues and sustainability, and Steve has been thinking about new ways to advance environmental efforts. After all, their shared sporting passion - cycling - is one of the key ways to contribute to sustainability.

Next week, Rose and Steve will continue to invite other young people from all over China who love sports and environmental protection to take part in the The Sustainability Tour (环保好骑心) (which translates "Curiosity for the Environment"). More to see in Sichuan, Chongqing, Guangdong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Yunnan. Let's all look forward to the upcoming videos!

This article was published on Weibo: Click here.