The Birth of an Idea
Sophie, a third-year student from the Department of Government and Public Administration and one of the co-founders of VChange, met the other four founders last August through an activity organised by the China Youth Climate Action Network (CYCAN). They are Lilian, a third-year student from the Department of Accounting and Information Management; Paris, a third-year student from the Department of Government and Public Administration; April, a third-year student of Japanese studies; and Maria, a fourth-year student from the Department of Portuguese. The five girls found themselves sharing the same interest in climate change and environmental protection and the same hope for a greener UM and Macao. That’s how they came up with the idea of starting VChange.
Sophie has always been a supporter of environmental protection. Her first experience with environmental activities happened last May when she joined a non-governmental youth organisation on climate change, the first of its kind in China. Later, Sophie met a professor from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), who told her about HKUST’s effort in keeping a daily record of the amount of food waste created by its canteens as well as the university’s research and involvement in environmental awareness and its internalisation. ‘These activities can help to create a green environment and instil green habits in the school community,’ says Sophie. ‘They are very meaningful.’
VChange in Action
Since its establishment, VChange has organised various activities to promote environmental protection, including a model UN conference on climate change and an academic salon in collaboration with UM’s Model United Nationals Association (MUNA), and workshops on climate change in collaboration with CYCAN to spread the spirit of the UN Climate Change Conference held in Paris (COP21) . These activities were well received. In December 2015, Lilian, one of the co-founders of VChange, participated in a side event of the COP21, where she discussed environmental issues with young people from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.
Challenges and Hopes for the Future
VChange is still a young organisation and its heavy workload is currently shared among the five co-founders. Lilian says that UM does not offer a major in environmental studies, so they need to make an effort to attract students’ attention when designing environmental activities. Despite these challenges, Sophie hopes that VChange will be able to accomplish the mission that compelled them to found it in the first place. ‘We hope to increase students’ environmental awareness by promoting garbage classification in college canteens,’ says Sophie. ‘Step by step we want to create a greener campus.’
