Extreme and Opposite Direction: An observation of grassroots social innovation towards sustainable and harmonious society in China

This paper reports a phenomenological research of Chinese grassroots social innovations and a pilot investigation on the nature of them and how to promote them in the context of China. Based on results from the research project Creative Communities for Sustainable Lifestyle（CCSL）, three cases are analyzed as emerging sustainable lifestyle. Furthermore, paper offers several discussions in services ideas and contents, rebound of industrialization and design role in promotion. Keyword: harmonious society, sustainable lifestyle, grassroots social innovation, creative communities, Design “Things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme.” (Laozi, B.C. 500) This is a simple dialectic idea of Laozi, a great ancient ideologist 2500 years ago. However, the philosophy still holds today and it has been widely indicated in the recent history of China. No doubts, the modern production and consumption, as an expression of industrial society, which have been developed in the last two centuries is still the mainstream of change today, and it has been reaching the limit of resource on the earth (Extreme). Therefore, it has to be recognized to change the change, changing the direction of the development of society and human being towards sustainability as a rebound from the extreme (Opposite direction). In this transition China is supposed to make a big contribution to the world. It’s not only because we could always discover some helpful thoughts and inspirations from Chinese ancient or traditional ideology and philosophy that are disappearing from everyday life, but also in the last 30 years China has transited from an impoverished country into a world factory, which helps in providing China the opportunity to steer its direction. Fortunately, China is being in action! A new movement has been launched by the central government of China---Harmonious Society, which came into picture after the big decision of the shift from economic development to sustainable development. For example, on 31st December 2007, a new regulation was announced by the central government, “It will be forbidden to produce and consume the super-flimsy plastic shopping bags after June, 2008”. Then something interesting happened recently: the traditional bamboo shopping baskets came back to the urban life even before this June. It means people are very open to sustainable lifestyle. Besides the top-down policies, the bottom-up social innovations are emerging and promoted in China. Many diffused social enterprises (Creative Communities) and sustainable lifestyles have been observed such as Car Sharing, PinKe, Group Purchase, Community Supporting Agriculture and etc. Those promising cases implicate the initiatives and anticipation of sustainable lifestyles from general people in everyday life spontaneously.