Solving SDGs Challenges by Design Thinking – Student Sharing of Future17 SDG Challenge Programme
Sharing by Wong, Chi Fung Jonathan (MPhil in Sociology)
Jonathan is a Sociology MPhil student at CUHK, with a strong background in Gender Studies and Cultural Studies. He shared with us about his learning experience through the Future17 programme.
Why did I volunteer for Future17?
With strong enthusiasm in reducing inequality in the society, Jonathan joined the Future17 programme to enrich his understanding in Sustainable Development in an inter-disciplinary approach. ‘It is a golden opportunity to work with students from globally well-known universities, and design innovative solutions to tackle contemporary grand sustainability problems,’ explained Jonathan, ‘Ultimately, you can even express your brilliant ideas with a practitioner in the related industry through an online showcase.’
My Future17 Project
Jonathan’s project was titled ‘Building a Global Community for Eco-Friendly Web Alliance’. The industry partner was an Eco-Friendly Web Alliance (EWFA), an organization based in the UK, with a mission to fight climate change by reducing carbon emissions and creating a cleaner greener internet for all.
Jonathan sees the importance of the project in contributing to sustainable development, ‘The internet contributes to approximately 4% of global carbon emissions, a relatively obscure factor significantly impacting global warming,’ he recalled, ‘We created a Low-energy Campaign to raise public awareness about the emissions from electrical energy needed to power servers and websites.’ He believed that small actions by all internet users plays a role in reversing the trend of high emissions due to internet usage.
The project required collaboration with different parties to complete. Jonathan met his groupmates and mentors every week to discuss the project, ‘It was a fantastic experience since we can always sum up excellent ideas, everyone was indispensable and unique in this meeting. We all have talents, and this was a great time to exchange our knowledge and culture to improve our group work.’ He also appreciated the help from the company partner, ‘they are tremendously patient and in-depth in analysing our project’s weaknesses and improvements, giving us much support and appreciation.’
Overall, Jonathan had a great time participating in the programme, especially during final presentation, ‘a memorable and lively experience’ as he puts it. The project equipped him with SDG knowledge he was eager to acquire and a sense of achievement working with the international team.
