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Bringing home Hong Kong

The Hong Kong skyline lit up at night during the daily Symphony of Lights.

The Hong Kong skyline lit up at night during the daily Symphony of Lights.

Bringing home Hong Kong

By Barton Robison

Ten days from my return to the U.S., and I’m still dreaming about monkeys, street food and sewage treatment plants. Blame it on the jet lag (that I just got over a few days ago) or the weight loss (because China is very vegetarian un-friendly), but I’m completely worn out! Hong Kong was everything I had expected and so much more. Here are the three biggest takeaways I brought home with me.

Hong Kong is unique. Looking back on it, what stands out most are the contradictions of the city: forward-thinking, yet steeped in tradition; impossibly dense, yet run wild with nature; a pro-democratic culture overseen by mainland China. So many things about this place shouldn’t work, and yet it all comes together in one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever visited.

A team of ASU and CityU students proudly pose in front of their completed research posters.

ASU and CityU students proudly pose in front of their completed research posters.

 

ASU student Amory Ford explains her posters to other students and faculty members at the final poster presentation.

ASU student Amory Ford explains her posters to other students and faculty members at the final poster presentation.

Sustainability issues (and their solutions) are as diverse as the places they represent. The final project for all of the students in the program was to take one of six key areas identified as sustainably challenged and create a solutions-based academic poster. This forced the students to apply their knowledge and research toward real-world problems in a way that they don’t often get to do inside the classroom. Not to mention that Phoenix and Hong Kong have incredibly different sustainability issues. (When was the last time Phoenix had to worry about marine biodiversity? Or creating sustainability solutions that don’t adversely affect the shipping industry?) Being able to throw themselves into unfamiliar territory truly tested these students’ capacities for innovation; judging by the success of the final products, I’d say that they’re well-equipped.

Cross-cultural learning experiences truly prepare these students for their futures. The ASU students on the trip ranged in age from 19-50, included undergraduate and graduate students, and represented at least four different nationalities. Mix that diverse group together with fifteen additional students from Hong Kong, and you have a recipe for some intense idea-sharing and collaboration that’s impossible to recreate in a standard classroom. This cross-cultural experience wasn’t all sunshine and roses, either. There were a couple of times that cultural differences led to frustration, hurt feelings and emotional encounters. But by the end of the week, the students had worked through their issues and gained perspective that they wouldn’t have otherwise. In that sense, this course provided much more than a strictly-academic learning environment, presenting challenges and lessons that the students will take with them for the rest of their lives.

I’m so incredibly thankful to the School of Sustainability and the Walton Foundation for letting me be a part of this trip. It was definitely one I’ll be talking about for years to come!