STORY: French designer witnesses China's sustainability progress
DATELINE: Aug. 26, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:11
LOCATION: ZHONGSHAN, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Johan working at Flow, an educational farm in Zhongshan City, south China's Guangdong Province
2. SOUNDBITE (English): JOHANNES SYLVAIN FAURE-BRAC, French designer

STORYLINE:

Johan, a designer from France, shares his journey of joining Flow, an educational farm in China, and his passion for sustainable design.

Acknowledging China's progress in sustainability and seeing it as a positive example for other countries to follow, Johan explores the connection between humans and nature, and the importance of sustainable design in China.

SOUNDBITE (English): JOHANNES SYLVAIN FAURE-BRAC, French designer
"My name is Johan. I come from a tiny village in France called Sigoyer with 400 people. And I've lived between Sigoyer and Zhongshan since 2019.

My goal in joining Flow was to bond my passion for nature and try to find a bridge between humans and nature harmoniously, which is Flow's mission as well.

As a designer in France, I came to naturally treat sustainable design because this is an old subject in France, and as well because of my background, I lived in nature for all those years.

For me, it was natural to try and do the best products, and the best design with the least impact possible on the planet. And all of my career I did that. So it makes sense for me to really care about nature, because nature is our home, right?

As I joined Flow, we shared the common objective which is to draw better relationships with nature, and humans, with nature specifically. Because you see over time, with all the comfort we have, and this world going so fast, we forgot that we need to take care of our environment.

Being in the business, in the industry for so long, I'm always stunned by the amount of personal, and governmental investment of China into sustainability.

The whole world has been talking about sustainability for 40 years, but no one moved as fast and as big as China did over the past years.

And it can already be seen that other people in the Western countries are calling China a leader in green economy. And in a way, I think it's lucky for the world because we need a fast mover. We need a country like China that can educate and act on their work, on their talk, as fast to show the way."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Zhongshan, China.
(XHTV)