Time to bring it all together!

By Haley Randell

We are in full swing of our class now. The cumulative project of the class in Hong Kong is to create two posters to present at a public spot in the City University of Hong Kong. One poster outlines a sustainability problem and the other is a policy recommendation. Not only do we have to research and create two posters, we are in groups of both Chinese and American students. So it’s basically a mad dash to the finish line. Wish me luck!

A very notable and controversial trip that our class went on was to a marine research facility on the south part of Hong Kong Island. This facility mainly worked with students to do work on climate change and the effects of Hong Kong’s business on the wildlife. One exciting milestone in this sovereign state’s history is the ban on ocean floor trawling in 2012. Hong Kong is rapidly running out of sea life due to over fishing and the large amount of water travel, barges in particular. In addition to these issues, the city is creating new land through reclamation. Essentially, they either knock down a hill and put it in the ocean, or they dig up the ocean floor and make new land with the mud. It’s a horribly destructive process but that’s what the government can get passed. The thought process is that if you build a new island for a polluting or unattractive facility, you can essentially eliminate the “not in my backyard” syndrome. However, Hong Kong is in a biodiversity hot spot and this environmental catastrophe is devastating local wildlife, especially the Chinese White Dolphin. This is the conundrum that Hong Kong is in: create new islands by destroying other habitats, or build on country park reserves. The research site field trip highlighted this terrible sustainability problem.

Till next time!