CSII Faculty Member Dr. Sawaros Thanapornsangsuth has played a key role in the Youth Net Zero Capacity Development Programme in Thailand, an initiative of the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). The recently released UNU report coauthored by CSII faculty member Dr. Sawaros Thanapornsangsuth marks a pivotal response to the global call for climate action highlighted at COP27 and underscores the critical role of youth in this endeavor.
Jointly organized with Thailand’s Department of Climate Change and Environment and funded by the Korea Environment Corporation, the programme was designed to equip the younger generation with essential skills, knowledge, and attitudes for climate action. It aims at empowering young people to conceptualize and implement net zero projects within their communities.
“In August 2023, the Net Zero Thailand: ACE Youth Ideathon Camp brought together 40 Thai youths for a transformative three-day event in Bangkok, “ revealed Dr. Thanapornsangsuth, adding that the programme combined e-learning courses, in-person lectures, and ideathon-style activities based on Design Thinking approaches. Mr. Paricha Duangtaweesub, CSII’s adjunct faculty, also played a crucial role in facilitating the event. The objective was twofold: to deepen the participants’ understanding of net zero concepts and to foster their engagement in community-based climate initiatives. Dr. Sawaros, who was previously with UNU-IAS and now serves as a faculty member in the Chulalongkorn School of Integrated Innovation (CSII) spearheaded sessions on carbon auditing, mind mapping, design thinking and empathy, user journey and persona, design thinking ideating, and storytelling and prototyping, among others.
A robust competency framework was the cornerstone of the programme, incorporating cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional aspects to provide a balanced educational experience. This framework was instrumental in enabling participants to effectively apply their learnings to real-world scenarios.
A foundational e-learning course entitled Net Zero 101 introduced the participants to key concepts related to net zero along with international climate bodies and treaties. This was followed by in-person sessions that contextualized this knowledge within Thailand’s unique environmental challenges and opportunities. Resulting projects addressed a spectrum of environmental challenges, from managing agricultural waste to segregating food waste, thus demonstrating practical, scalable solutions for a sustainable future. The program culminated in a pitching session, where the projects were evaluated in terms of sustainability, feasibility, innovation, creativity, and social impact by a panel of experts. Feedback from the participants reaffirmed the programme’s effectiveness in enhancing knowledge of net zero concepts and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“By marrying theory and practical applications, this innovative approach not only empowers Thai youth but also offers a scalable and replicable model for other nations,” Dr. Thanapornsangsuth concluded. UNU-IAS piloted the implementation of the framework in Thailand in August 2023, building on its successful delivery of a net zero training among Thai government officials in March 2023. Both trainings were part of the K-eco Global Net Zero Partnership (K-GNP) project, a two-year cooperative initiative of UNU-IAS and the Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco). The project was co-organized with the Royal Thai Government’s Department of Climate Change and Environment (CCE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and funded by K-eco.
LINKS
- The Report, which was co-authored by Jerome Silla, Jonghwi Park, and Sawaros Thanapornsangsuth can be read here: UNU
- Also Read: Story on UNU website titled “Design and Implementation of a Net-Zero Youth Capacity Building Programme: The Case of Thailand”(UNU Website)
