From June 20 to 22, the "Weaving Sustainability – 2025 Sustainable Design Action" series kicked off at Chengdu Tianfu Design Industrial Park, gathering global pioneers in sustainable innovation. Co-initiated by the Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen and co-hosted by Chengdu Tianfu Design Industrial Park, the event weaves a collaborative network for sustainable design through three core dimensions: "Intertwining Wisdom," "Circular Resources," and "Nurturing Communities."

On June 20, the opening ceremony witnessed global design pioneers weaving insights into a new chapter of sustainability with their thoughts as shuttles. Sixteen renowned design luminaries and sustainability innovators convened for profound dialogues dissecting cutting-edge trends, practical cases, and future trajectories of sustainable design.Professor He Renke (Chair of the National Subcommittee on Industrial Design Education under the Ministry of Education of China and Red Dot Design Award juror) and Ms.Su Nan(Deputy General Manager of Design China Ltd., ) presented exhibition certificates to participating delegates. Nearly 100 attendees collaboratively wove a network for sustainable partnerships during the ceremony.

Chief Commercial Advisor for SustainabilityDesign China Ltd.

Ms. Cong Nan

Social Design Within Global Design Trends

During the opening session, Ms. Cong Nan presented a historical overview of the Red Dot Design Award's development from its founding in 1954 to the present. She explained the award's comprehensive evaluation criteria encompassing functional quality, aesthetic excellence, usability standards, and particularly emphasized social responsibility as a key judging parameter.
Through impactful case studies including the "Microplastic Supermarket" awareness campaign and Michelin's Vision sustainable tire technology, Ms. Cong demonstrated how design innovation effectively addresses critical societal challenges such as resource circularity, sustainable material applications, inclusive design solutions for vulnerable populations, and disaster response systems.
The presentation further highlighted Red Dot Museum Xiamen's ongoing Action through social design exhibitions, collaborative workshops, and co-creation projects that simultaneously preserve traditional craftsmanship while advancing design-driven social innovation. Ms. Cong concluded with a compelling appeal for designers to expand their focus beyond commercial objectives to actively incorporate social sustainability considerations into their practice.

Chair Professor, School of Design, Hunan University

Chair, National Subcommittee on Industrial Design Education (Higher Education Institution), Ministry of Education, PRC

Juror, Red Dot Design Award, Germany

Prof.  He Renke

Professor He Renke shared the "New Channel Design & Social Innovation Project" led by the School of Design, Hunan University. The project has conducted systematic field research in over ten provinces and regions across China, including Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Sichuan, deeply investigating local culture, environment, folk customs, and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) resources.
The project seamlessly integrates traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design, driving the industrial transformation of handmade products. This approach achieves the dual objectives of cultural preservation and targeted poverty alleviation, earning its designation as a Key Poverty Alleviation Project of the Ministry of Education.
Furthermore, the project actively fosters collaborations with enterprises for cultural and creative partnerships. Its outcomes have been showcased on prestigious international platforms such as the Milan Design Week and the Paris Exposition, pioneering new pathways to promote traditional Chinese culture globally and generate economic value through digital innovation.

It serves as a comprehensive suport platform for rural development,promoting the deep integration of industry,academia,and research, and cultivating outstanding talent for rural reconstruction.

Institute for Rural Construction,Tsinghua University

From Regional Culture to Sustainable Design: University-Local Partnership Drives Rural Renewal

The Institute for Rural Construction, Tsinghua University is committed to serving the rural revitalization strategy by promoting university-local cooperation to establish Rural Revitalization Centers, Tsinghua University, and facilitating the deployment of university scientific and technological talents to rural areas. Since its establishment in 2017, it has set up 36 centers nationwide, renovated 46,000 square meters of idle buildings, attracted investment exceeding 450 million yuan, organized over 15,000 faculty and students to participate in practice, and served more than 300,000 villagers.

The centers combine local characteristics through graduation design projects and research initiatives, integrating regional cultural heritage with sustainable design to form the "Clay Reborn · Industry-Village Symbiosis" model in Rong County, Zigong City and the "Zero-Carbon Island · Mountain-Sea Symbiosis" solution in Yushan island, Fuding city. By integrating resources and ranging from building renovation to whole-village enhancement, the centers play a platform role characterized by public welfare, long-term effectiveness, and openness, becoming an important base for talent cultivation, a frontier position for academic research, and a strategic hub for serving society.

Deputy Secretary-General,Changjiang Conservation Foundation

Mr. Qian Zhengyi

Sustainability of Environmental Public Welfaret: The Yangtze Finless Porpoise Protection Case

Mr. Qian Zhengyi presented a sustainable conservation Action for the holistic protection of the Yangtze River ecosystem. Focusing on the Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) - the river's last remaining aquatic mammal with a critically endangered population of merely 1,249 individuals - the project addresses severe survival threats including illegal fishing, water pollution, and shipping disturbances. Since its launch in 2017 by Mr. Qian's foundation, this comprehensive public welfare program has established an integrated conservation framework by December 2024 through tripartite collaboration involving local communities, corporate partners, and policy coordination. The Action has pioneered innovative co-patrolling mechanisms, conducted systematic scientific monitoring, and mobilized participation from over 280 enterprises and 5 million citizens. These multidimensional efforts spanning ecological preservation to cultural advocacy have significantly enhanced both public engagement and long-term sustainability in porpoise conservation, contributing measurably to the species' population recovery.

Materials Innovation & Sustainable Design

Proposer of the "Bamboo-Living City" Concept

Council Member, China Bamboo Industry Association

Dr. Shao Changzhuan

Bamboo-Living City

Since his first encounter with bamboo in 2009, Dr. Shao Changzhuan has been deeply engaged in the fields of bamboo materials, bamboo-structured architecture, and cultural innovation. He has led pioneering research and practice in large-span bamboo architecture across various regions, including Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan, Yibin in Sichuan, Beijing, and Fujian Province.
By tackling key technical challenges such as bamboo preservation and fire resistance, Dr. Shao has advanced the industrial processing and structural application of bamboo. He has overseen the design and construction of several landmark projects in the bamboo industry, including:The Yibin International Bamboo Industry Trading Center — the world’s largest bamboo building by area;The Bamboo Bridge at the West Entrance of Wuyishan National Park — the world’s longest bamboo bridge;The International Bamboo and Rattan Organization Pavilion at the 2019 Beijing Expo — the world’s largest single-span bamboo structure.
His outstanding work has been honored with the 2018 World Bamboo and Rattan Congress Award for Excellence in International Bamboo Architecture and the 2024 Arthur G. Hayden Medal from the International Bridge Conference.
In addition to architectural innovation, Dr. Shao and his team have promoted bamboo applications in the eco-product sector. They have integrated traditional bamboo craftsmanship with modern technology in over 30 projects across China and actively pursued global collaboration to explore international pathways for bamboo industrialization—fostering both cultural heritage and sustainable development.

Founding Director of M-SEEN

Co-Initiator of Material X Lab

Ms. Chen Dandan

Frontiers in Sustainable Materials: Projections for 2025-2028

Ms. Chen Dannan presented her team’s research on sustainable material innovation from the perspective of a building’s full life-cycle—raw-material acquisition, manufacturing, in-use application, and end-of-life disposal. Focusing on sustainability in sourcing, production, application, and recycling, she outlined seven major material trends reshaping the construction sector. These span natural, renewable solutions such as bio-based polymers, plant fibres, and mycelium composites, as well as breakthrough carbon-sequestering and carbon-negative materials. Her talk showcased concrete strategies to reduce reliance on non-renewable resources in design, adopt low- and negative-carbon processes, and drive green, sustainable development throughout the built environment.

Urban-Rural Renewal & Sustainable Design

Operations Director & Design Director for Mainland China, J.J.Pan & Partners, Architects and Planners (Taiwan, China)

Mr. Yang Nianheng

Mr. Yang Nianheng began by introducing JJP Architects' site-responsive design philosophy and pioneering work in sustainable construction. As early as 2013, the firm demonstrated its commitment to both economic viability and ecological responsibility through the "Sustainable Ring" installation for the Taiwan Lantern Festival, employing a demountable steel structure that enabled complete material recovery and reuse. The presentation then delved into JJP's innovative approach to circular climate systems, showcasing how the practice achieves microclimate regulation through advanced insulation materials and technological innovation. Two exemplary projects embody this methodology: The Shanghai Commercial Savings Bank Headquarters masterfully integrates structural and ecological design principles to harmonize operational efficiency with aesthetic excellence on the challenging Songshan Airport flight path site; while the Third Biotechnology Building in Hsinchu Biomedical Park exemplifies environmental responsiveness through comprehensive wind pattern and daylight analysis, translating phototropic principles from botany into spatial configurations that balance functional adaptability with cultural continuity. These cutting-edge practices are developed through JJP Lab, the firm's proprietary research platform that synergizes digital modeling tools with green building certification standards to investigate buildings as dynamic, open systems interacting with their environmental contexts.

Co-founder and Director, AaaM Architects

Mr. Shuyan Chan

Power of Participatory Design: From Playgrounds to Urban Memories

Mr. Shuyan Chan first shared childhood experience at Hong Kong Yau Ma Tei Playground to demonstrate that these spaces function not merely as physical recreation zones, but as vital social place where children learn how to socialize, create, and coordinate in this public space. It also reveals fundamental difference between adults’ understanding and children's actual needs.
His team initiated “Together We Play”, a user-centric participatory design programme under the policy of Hong Kong government in revitalizing the aged playgrounds in the community. They have conducted 200+ workshops and surveys with 2,000+ parents and children to co-design over a dozen of public play spaces. The design of their first built Tong Mei Road playground integrates playscape with multi-level interactive equipment, dedicated social zone and explorative play area, balancing safety protocols with fun play principles. By adapting the “Public Space Onion” layering assessment methodology ("survey research → professional knowledge transfer → parent-child co-create workshops"), the project translates children's play narratives and needs for specific play experience, and combines locally embedded cultural essence into spatial design elements. This approach positions playgrounds as urban space for building neighborhood identity and fostering communal network, setting a paradigm for participatory design in public space sustainable regeneration.

MVRDV

《REvive》

Confronting Thailand's annual generation of approximately 2 million tonnes of plastic waste – predominantly landfilled with minimal recycling – MVRDV conceived the monumental public installation "Mega Mat". Comprising 532 modular units, each representing nearly 10 tonnes of plastic refuse, the intervention transcends conventional domestic scales through chromatic vibrancy and exaggerated dimensions to visually dramatize plastic recycling imperatives. Debuted at Bangkok's Ratchadamnoen Square during Design Week Bangkok, the installation activated public engagement through curated programming including yoga sessions and concerts. Post-exhibition, the modular system underwent strategic repurposing: select units were donated to Buddhist temples while others were transformed into functional products spanning household appliances to carry accessories. This "art installation + circular reprocessing" paradigm not only effectively communicates environmental stewardship but extends plastic waste into a third life cycle, delivering an innovative closed-loop solution to Thailand's plastic crisis.

Co-founder of Protoscapes | Architect & Urban Designer

Ms. Huang Jinhui

Cultural Catalyst: Place Making for an Public Realm

Ms. Huang Jinhui foregrounded her practice’s interest in socio-cultural memory and public space interventions through her personal experience with the rise and fall of Xiamen's Fourth Market. For the Dawei Rural Revitalization Project, she conceived the Spiral Gallery inspired by tree ring patterns, where spiraling walls radiate from a central core to connect with the surrounding topography, while the adjacent amphitheater complements the prairie landscape. Exhibition spaces function as temporal vessels fostering dialogues between art and light. Conceived as a reading veranda that hovers above the prairies, the Horizon Library gathers its guests under the grand tree bookshelf, inviting their imaginations to roam free towards the vista and beyond. Two distinct volumes — a grounded, carved monolith and a hovering, transparent prism — stand as calibrated viewing frames to capture the breadth of the land and the expanse of the sky. The second renovation of Longyandong Creative Industrial Park revitalizes the abandoned factory into a vibrant cultural district. Mimetic spaces like the Stone Quarry Amphitheatre and the Dragons’ Lair Plaza articulate the site's industrial heritage and Longyan's socio-cultural legacy, transforming this forgotten periphery into a cultural landmark dedicated to the city’s urban memory.
These projects collectively validate architecture's catalytic agency as a cultural medium through site-specific narrative, biophilic integration and programmatic innovation. They epitomize Protoscapes's philosophy of "excavating inherent site value to create cultural catalysts," demonstrating how multi-layered design processes can propel regional cultural evolution.

Deputy Chief Architect, China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute Corp. Ltd.

Senior Member, Architectural Society of China (ASC)

Mr.Huang Huaihai

Mr. Huang Huaihai, a local architect from Chengdu, presented on the theme of "Integrating Green Sustainable Design into Everyday Architecture." He shared the design innovations of the Chengdu Montpellier Primary School, which breaks away from traditional campus models by adopting hexagonal classrooms to facilitate theme-based teaching. The design addresses daylighting and glare issues with skylight tubes, creates a central garden and elevated activity spaces by adapting to the terrain, and incorporates cultural facilities like the music hall and library as public interfaces open to citizens, blending educational spaces with urban life.
Additionally, he introduced the renovation project of 201-A Anhua Road in Shanghai. By demolishing walls to open up the street frontage, preserving distinctive balcony railings to juxtapose old and new elements, and responding to the historical fabric of the neighborhood, the project revitalized the old building as a "window of urban memory."
Both projects demonstrate how functional innovation, harmony with nature, and community sharing can make sustainable design a fundamental aspect of everyday architecture—rather than a feature exclusive to landmarks.

Partner, Yijie Architects

Ms. Zhou Yuhan

Ms. Zhou Yuhan presented YIIIE Architects’ urban renewal practice in Chengdu, focusing on “spatial publicness and community polyphony.” Since 2018, the team has continuously focused on community-friendly spaces in Yulin 3rd Alley, through an integrated model of planning, design, and operation, gradually evolving supporting facilities into a “design-as-accompaniment” approach that fostered organic community growth. In 2022, at Yulin 2nd Alley, targeting underutilized “golden corners and silver edges” of the city, her multidisciplinary team adopted modular light-gauge steel systems for adaptive renovation. They co-created terraced planted rooftops with residents and repurposed salvaged furniture into site-specific installations. Through a tripartite mechanism of “research–co-creation–exhibition,” stakeholders transformed a cluttered bicycle shed into a green commons that reconnected adjacent alleyways. This intervention attracted commercial tenants and revitalized neighborhood life through open public programming, exemplifying how dynamic relational scaffolding and cross-disciplinary collaboration can catalyze spatial regeneration in community renewal.

Roundtable :

Long-termism in Sustainable Design

Ms. Zhang Sitian / Creative Director & Chief Curator, Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen Curator of "Weaving Futures" Exhibition

Ms. Lin Yuting / Director of Public Relations and Communications, COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages (Sichuan) Company Limited

Ms. Yang Lu / Lead of Environmental Initiatives, Luxelakes Community Foundation

Ms. Zhuo Yingfei / Sustainable Product Designer

During the roundtable forum session, Zhang Sitian, Lin Yuting, Yang Lu, and Zhuo Yingfei engaged in a dialogue centered on "The Long-Term in Sustainable Design" .They emphasized that sustainable design fundamentally relies on perseverance and commitment. Drawing from their practical case studies, the speakers profoundly illustrated that the core of sustainable design lies in this very "persistence". They stressed that sustainable design is not a short-term project; its essence involves "establishing mechanisms, integrating value chains, and considering the entire lifecycle of materials." This approach necessitates fostering in-depth cross-sector collaboration among non-profits, enterprise, and designers. The session concluded with an expressed hope for broader alliances to collaboratively explore the societal value of Chinese design through diverse approaches, ultimately weaving a future life tapestry that harmoniously blends environmental stewardship with humanistic spirit.
Following the forum, a Design and Industry Matchmaking Session was held. This session not only facilitated the deep integration of sustainable design with industry but also served as a vital platform for industry exchange and technological collaboration. It effectively promoted matchmaking and cooperation among government agencies, businesses, and other stakeholders, providing a strong impetus for Chengdu's design industry to advance towards high-quality development.

“Weaving Futures — 2025 Sustainable Design Exhibition ” has been on display at Chengdu Tianfu Design Industrial Park since April 19th.The exhibition brings together innovative projects and case studies from 17 countries and regions worldwide, showcasing designers’ evolution from "problem solvers" to "system weavers." Through diverse pioneering cases, it plants seeds of thought for contemplating future societies and weaves new threads for sustainable lifestyles of tomorrow.This exhibition structured around five provocative themes.From the five sections of " Is Sustainable Living a Middle-Class Privilege or a Civic Imperative"、"Waste or Untapped Resource" 、"Can Technology Undergo ’Photosynthesis’”、"Will We Build Parks on Space Debris Constellations in the Next Decade" and "What Can a Collective ‘Web’of Sustained Action Transform"?— the exhibition explores fields including material innovation, environmental conservation, tech for good, heritage revitalization, rural rejuvenation, and urban renewal.It offers the public an exceptional chance to deeply engage with design’s essence and impact, collectively exploring actionable pathways for sustainable design.

On June 22, Ms. Zhao Lu, Executive Director of Roots and Shoots Chengdu, guided participants through the Path to Circularity workshop. Through co-creative methodologies and experiential learning, participants traced material lifecycles of everyday objects, diagnosed systemic disruptions within circular economies, and collectively envisioned regenerative potentials for planetary material flows.

The"Weaving Sustainability — 2025 Social Design Action" represents a multidimensional innovation framework within the design field, serving both as a systemic examination of contemporary design ecosystems and a pioneering reference for future design trajectories and societal development pathways.
As the founding institution of the DE-Social Design Action, Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen has committed since 2018 to building a borderless global platform that converges diverse design thinking. Its industry leadership now radiates internationally, continually driving innovative applications of design power in solving social challenges and advancing sustainable development.
The Chengdu edition’s success signals that the strategic convergence of design thinking and sustainable practice is increasingly becoming a core engine for societal progress. We anticipate witnessing more design-engineered social innovations in the future, collectively weaving the renewed fabric of Chinese modernization.

Guidanced By

Chengdu Chenghua District Dongjiao Memory Art District Management Committee

Hosted By

Xiamen Culture Design Holdings Co., Ltd.

Chengdu Vartaim Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd.

Launched By

Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen

Organized By

Chengdu Chuangcheng Brand Management Co., Ltd.

Chengdu Tianfu Huazhang Cultural and Creative Development Co., Ltd.

Supported By

School of Design Arts, Hunan University
Institute for Rural Construction,Tsinghua University
Chengdu Luhu Community Development Foundation
Chenghua District Western Returned Scholars Association , Chengdu
Changjiang Conservation Foundation
AaaM Architects
JJP Architects & Planners
MVRDV
Material X Lab
Protoscapes
SinoBamboo Culture & Technology Co., Ltd
YIIIE Architects
China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute Corp. Ltd
COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages (Sichuan) Co., Ltd.
Make-a-Point Design and Strategy Consultancy