AUN Summer Camp in Viet Nam and Indonesia Fostered Youth Engagement in Sustainability and Climate Change

With two campsites conducted in Singapore and Thailand in the first half of the month, July 2024 concluded in a spectacular success for AUN Summer Camp 2024 with three other campsites happening in Viet Nam and Indonesia, including:

1. AUN Summer Camp 2024 in Viet Nam “Climate Change and Youth Engagement” on 7-20 July 2024, hosted by Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM)
2. UGM-AUN Summer Camp 2024 “Eco-Leadership for the Young Generation: Nurturing Sustainable Futures” on 10-24 July 2024 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, hosted by Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), and
3. ITB-AUN Summer Camp 2024 “​Integrated Sustainability for Thriving Communities” on 15-29 July 2024 in Bandung, Indonesia, hosted by Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).

The aim of AUN Summer Camp is to provide concurrent experiential learning programmes that groom participating students to become equipped with future-proof skills as well as deepened knowledge and understanding in the assigned themes. Equally important is the goal for the participants to develop long-lasting friendships with their international peers which could grow beyond the precipice of these camps.

Below are the highlights of the three AUN Summer Camp sites happening in the latter half of July 2024:

AUN Summer Camp 2024 in Viet Nam “Climate Change and Youth Engagement”

On 7 July 2024, 70 delegates from all the 10 ASEAN countries arrived at VNUHCM on the first day of the camp. The opening ceremony of AUN Summer Camp 2024 in Viet Nam was presided by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Minh Tam, Vice Chancellor of VNUHCM, a video message from Dr. Choltis Dhirathiti, AUN Executive Director, and Dr. Bui Thi Hong Hahn, Director of VNUHCM Department of External Relations and Project Development; all of whom welcomed the student participants in this experiential programme focusing on youth engagement in issues related to climate change.

In the first phase of the AUN Summer Camp in Viet Nam, the participants first participated in the lecture “Overview of climate change, Climate change science” where they were introduced to the fundamental elements revolving around the issue of climate change and the variety of efforts in thwarting it. Group discussion on the topic “Climate change impacts and perspectives in Southeast Asia” allowed the campers to use the knowledge that they learned to formulate ideas and solutions to address specific issues related to climate change. The subsequent lecture on the role of modeling in climate policy analysis offered the participants the chance to develop deeper understanding on the governance and policy dimension when it comes to addressing climate change. 

Throughout this part of the programme, the participants also enjoyed campus tours to VNUHCM-University of Science, VNUHCM-University of Economics and Law, and VNUHCM-University of Social Sciences and Humanities, an evening excursion to the bustling scene of Ho Chi Minh City, as well as a full day excursion to Cần Giờ biosphere reserve where the students got to experience and observe an environmental site with the aim to preserve biodiversity as well as green ecosystems as a part of the natural defences against climate change.

On 9-11 July 2024, the participants departed for a trip to An Giang Province where they visited My Hoa Hung Commune. The participants also visited VNUHCM-An Giang University where they received a lecture on nature-based solutions for climate change as well as a campus tour around its green vicinity.

The final leg of the programme brought the participants back to Ho Chi Minh City where they learned more about the green circular economy and its related models. In the finale, the students consolidated the knowledge and experience gained throughout this programme and worked together to formulate student project ideas related to climate change. The final day of the programme was dedicated to the final presentations by the students. The culmination of the AUN Summer Camp 2024 provided one final avenue for the students of this campsite to discuss what they learned and exchanged views for strengthening their awareness, understanding and engagement with climate change and other issues related to sustainable development.

Find the recap of AUN Summer Camp 2024 in Viet Name by VNUHVM at https://aunsummercamp.vnuhcm.edu.vn/aun-vnuhcm-summer-2024/

UGM-AUN Summer Camp 2024 “Eco-Leadership for the Young Generation: Nurturing Sustainable Futures”

With the theme ““Eco-Leadership for the Young Generation: Nurturing Sustainable Futures”, UGM-AUN Summer Camp Programme 2024 emphasised the importance of nurturing young environmental leaders, and inspiring a worldwide movement for sustainability. This hybrid campsite by UGM brought together 55 students from all the 10 ASEAN countries to an active learning journey that fosters their engagement and leadership skills to become eco-leaders of future sustainable development.

The first leg of the programme on 10-24 July 2024 was conducted online. In this regard, the participants attended lectures remotely on relevant topics to prepare them for the second half of the programme in Yogyarkata, Indonesia, where they would be deployed for active-learning experience in providing community services to the locals.

In week two, the student participants travelled to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to engage firsthand in community projects and services. Guided by academic staff from UGM, the students split into five groups and went to participate in community building projects in villages and communities around the area of Yogyakarta. The scope of the fieldwork by the students centred around the idea of empowering these communities for sustainable tourism development, with the students utilising the knowledge gained from the lectures to work together with the locals in their assigned post.

After the end of their fieldwork, the students from each group returned to UGM to deliver the presentation on their project to the programme’s experts and fellow students, sharing their experiences and synthesising the knowledge and skills that they learned in environmental preservation and sustainable development project management.

AUN-ITB Summer Camp 2024 “​Integrated Sustainability for Thriving Communities”

We make our last stop in this reading at AUN-ITB SummerCamp 2024, hosted by Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) on 15-29 July 2024. With the theme  “​Integrated Sustainability for Thriving Communities”, 124 students from all the 10 ASEAN countries participated in this programme to learn essential knowledge and skills that are vital in cultivating responsible individuals capable of contributing to the advancement of sustainable urban development, transportation systems, along with bioresources and natural resources utilisation and management.

This campsite offered 3 sub-themes for the participants to choose to learn, including:

• Transforming Cities: Innovations in Urban Living and Sustainable Transportation
• Bioresource Utilisation and Management: Enhancing the Capacity of the Community through Exploring Natural Products for Cosmetics in Multi-Creative Business 
• Business Modeling To Integrate The Utilisation of ASEAN Energy And Mineral Resources

In the first week of the camp, the campers participated in lectures and brainstorming sessions related to their chosen sub-themes to learn about relevant thinking models that would allow them to create sustainability project ideas in contribution to community development. Throughout these activities, ITB experts and professors from relevant faculties assisted the students in building their presentations or business proposals.

In parallel, the programme also took the participants to visit local communities, industries and natural areas around Bandung where ITB have been involved in organising projects and contributing to local sustainability efforts. For example, the students went to observe and learned about the portion of the mountain that is under supervision of ITB for the purpose of research and preservation. They also partook in planting trees for the purpose of combating deforestation, and assisted in cultivating plants that are capable of producing important bioresources such as fruits and coffee beans.

During the final days of the programme, the participating students of each sub-theme worked together to finalise their project proposals before presenting them to the panel of experts as well as their international peers at the end of the programme. Their final presentations provided a good conclusive opportunity for the students to reflect on what they have learned and discuss how they could bring such knowledge back to their home country and contribute to the sustainable development of their local communities.

The successful conduct of three more sites of AUN Summer Camp showcased the excellence of AUN Member Universities in creating international avenues for the region’s youth to learn and develop future-ready skills and knowledge guided by the expertise, resources and outreach of these institutions. The AUN Secretariat is highly thankful to VNUHCM, UGM and ITB for hosting the aforementioned three campsites which shared the focus on developing new generations of young leaders for climate change actions and sustainability development.

The inaugural AUN Summer Camp programme is nearing completion with one ongoing campsite and one upcoming campsite in Malaysia, hosted by Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia, respectively. The AUN Secretariat avails to provide coverage on the outcomes of these two campsites when available.

For further reading regarding AUN Summer Camp:

• The Momentum Continues: AUN Summer Camp in Singapore and Thailand
• Off to an Exciting Start, AUN Summer Camp 2024 in Brunei Darussalam and The Philippines is Just the Beginning
• AUN Summer Camp