A total of three service-learning tasks were organized successfully, including
Destop research
Online solar map workshop
Kyoto x Seoul x Taipei x Guangzhou x Hong Kong Online Undergraduate Deliberation Workshop
Task 1 Desktop research [Optional task] (February to March 2022)
The 3 selected students' research powerpoints: HO Po Ying | LAU Yik Bernard | SIU Wai Hei
Task 2.1 Online solar map workshop [Optional task] (9 March 2022)
(Click the photo to see the whole powerpoint)
Task 2.2 Online solar map report [Optional task]
The 3 selected students' map reports: LI Kai Chun | TAM Yan Kiu | TONG Suk Yue
Task 3.1 The organization of an online cross-city cross-cultural deliberative workshop (13 April 2022)
Overview of the “Kyoto x Seoul x Taipei x Guangzhou x Hong Kong Online Undergraduate Deliberation Workshop”
The “Kyoto x Seoul x Taipei x Guangzhou x Hong Kong Online Undergraduate Deliberation Workshop” was successfully held on the 13th April, 2022. his workshop was led by the Department of Geography and the Asian Energy Studies Centre of Hong Kong Baptist University, and co-organised by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Kyoto University, National Taiwan University and Sun Yat-sen University. More than 50 students from universities across Hong Kong, Taipei, Kyoto and Guangzhou participated in the deliberation programme. Students discussed three options related to the universities’ role in facilitating sustainable energy transition, including making gradual improvements to comply with sustainable standards, establishing sustainable “living labs” in the community, and actively engaging with the society through start-ups. You can refer to the briefing documents here: Link.
The Stanford Online Deliberation platform was used to facilitate discussions between students.
Online deliberative polling is a commonly used method to collect opinions on public policies. Through engaging with citizens of various backgrounds, policymakers are able to make better decisions after understanding the opinions from different citizens.
Six panelists from five universities joined the discussion, their titles are as follows:
Dr. DENG, Lifeng, Associate Professor at School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-sen University
Dr. HUANG, Liling, Associate Professor at Graduate Institute of Building & Planning , National Taiwan University
Dr. KIM, Hana, Assistant Professor at School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Prof Benjamin MCLELLAN, Professor at Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University
Dr. Akihisa MORI, Associate Professor at Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
Dr. Masaru YARIME, Associate Professor at Division of Public Policy, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Below are three key points discussed in the plenary session:
1. There is no one-size-fits-all solution: The uptake of options depends greatly on the university’s planning and development
During the discussion, students raised the question of suitability of different options in different Asian cities, as well as how to connect these three options.
There is no ultimate solution to facilitate the university's sustainable energy transition. Dr Deng raised that the second option would better facilitate students with no sustainability background, as the hands-on experience in living labs would build up greater knowledge. Prof McLellan suggested that the uptake of various options highly depends on the development and resources of the university. Despite the capability of co-developing the above three options, Dr Mori illustrated that most community living lab and start-up projects are initiated by independent professors. Hence, he recommended setting up steering committees so as to integrate different start-ups and foster a better co-learning process.
2. Collaboration within the university and with external stakeholders is crucial
At the deliberation, students suggested that students may lack experience to develop start-ups and living labs, and students may not be able to gather sufficient resources for the business. Multiple panelists raised the importance of collaboration between internal university departments, and external stakeholders to deliver a broader influence of living labs or start-ups.
In terms of internal collaboration, Dr Mori suggested that most start-ups and living labs were initiated by engineering professors, it is rare to find students of other disciplines to engage with start-ups and living labs. However, Prof McLellan emphasised that apart from engaging with students of multiple disciplines, we should identify the cause and motivation behind the start-up. While for external collaborations, Dr Yarime, Dr Huang and Dr Kim raised the importance of collaboration with municipal and national government and the community. Dr Yarime proposed that collaborations between existing corporations or businesses would leap frog the development of university start-ups. On the other hand, Dr Huang suggested that allowing students to engage with the government, NGOs through practicum work would be beneficial. While Dr Kim highlighted municipal and national government’s involvement as funders play an important role in nurturing community living labs. As the initiative matures, communities will be able to sustain its development through fundings from local banks.
3.Sustaining and facilitating a broader transition are key challenges to universities
From the discussion, some students suggested that in order to yield a holistic sustainable energy transition, the university should adopt a combination of three options. However, the resources for setting up and maintaining these multiple living labs and start-ups remain a huge challenge.
Both Dr Yarime and Dr Mori agreed with the simultaneous approach. Dr Yarime pointed out that universities could act as a starting point for start-up projects, acting as an incubation for new companies. However, in order to facilitate a broader sustainable transition, Dr Mori raised the significance of integrating expertise with a steering committee to reinforce knowledge exchange. Citizens’ trust is also important to facilitate change, especially in smart energy transitions. Dr Yarime suggested that the university could provide an encrypted platform to store and manage private data, so as to enhance people’s level of trust to the private start-ups and living labs. Dr Huang also highlighted the applicability of developing sustainability infrastructure from a multi-dimensional perspective, including renewable energy, water usage upgrades, community gardens, etc..
In conclusion, universities could play a significant role to facilitate sustainable energy transitions. This workshop shined light on three main key points that could facilitate a more holistic transition. First, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to sustainable energy transitions. Different universities should utilitse their own capacities and identify unique solutions to driving sustainable energy transitions. Second, universities should facilitate interdisciplinary and external collaborations in order to deliver a wider transition. Third, universities should seek solutions that could sustain and support a broader sustainability transition.
Task 3.2 Summary of the workshop [Optional task]
The 3 selected students' summaries: LAU Yik Bernard| HUI Yi Fei | YEUNG Ngai Tung
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