HKUST placed first in APRU-New York Times Case Competition 2019
After an intense competition amongst 55 entries from 26 universities in 14 economies, HKUST students, Cherie Hiu Yu Leung (Life Science, Ocean Science) and Veronica Qin Ting Li (MPhil in Public Policy) placed first in the 2019 New York Times – APRU Asia Pacific Student Case Competition.
This years’ competition was themed around global health and the students were required to submit a policy brief outlining the threats to health from air pollution and to promote a feasible solution. They were judged on its potential to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 in Asia Pacific region.
Veronica’s and Cherie’s winning entry, entitled “Air Pollution in Hong Kong: A Market-Based Approach to Infrastructural Change” was published in the International Edition of The New York Times on November 18, 2019. Their recommendations included increasing market penetration of less polluting alternatives for shipping and road transportation, encouraging urban greening, imposing an air pollution tax on commercial industrial and transport sectors and establishing a cross-sector network on air pollution.
Mellissa Withers, APRU Global Health Program Director applauded the winning teams for coming up with practical, well-defined, evidence-based solutions that can overcome the environmental challenges. She said “This gave me hope that there are feasible solutions that could have a major impact on this crisis.” Upon receiving the award, Veronica Qin Ting Li said "We hope that governments around the world can be more proactive in tackling air pollution as not only an environmental challenge, but a health problem as well. The submissions for this competition show that it is entirely possible to develop better policy solutions to do so."
We would like to congratulate both Cherie and Veronica for this achievement. Veronica has always been an active member of the HKUST sustainability community. As an Eco-Rep under the Sustainable Smart Campus Leadership Program in 2015-2016, she made a positive difference at HKUST by looking for ways to implement “Freshwater Harvesting” on campus. We are pleased to observe that her passion for environmental protection has led her to creating a greener future at an international scale.
