Success in Seoul for UNSW students
Two UNSW student teams mentored by the UNSW Cities Institute last week won the top prizes at the 10th Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities in Seoul.
Published on the 03 October 2024
UNSW students Ardra Meletath, Timothy Hutton, Tim Atkinson, and Anil Babu with Scientia Fellow at the UNSW Cities Institute, Dr. Jinhee Kim, and Salote Nasalo, Masters Candidate at the University of the South Pacific (and incoming UNSW PhD student).
The UNSW Bush Tucker Trail Project, presented by UNSW Master of Environmental Management students Ardra Meletath, Anil Babu and Brahada Shanbhag won first prize in the Global Youth Health Forum: Healthy City Policy Contest for its proposal to address rampant biodiversity decline in urban centres, by implementing 'green corridors in university campuses as a means for biodiversity regeneration. Their proposal cited the Green Trail at UNSW as its positive example.
And the team of UNSW Bachelor of City Planning students Timothy Hutton, Tim Atkinson, and Jack Vella, won the second prize for their 'Utilising University Campuses and Promoting Sustainable Living' project, which looks at the potential of university campuses to enhance the experience of students living on and near campus, with particular regard to UNSW’s community gardens at the Kensington campus.
The UNSW Cities Institute, which is an associate member of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, encouraged the students to apply and they were mentored by UNSW Cities Institute Scientia Fellow Dr Jinhee Kim, who was also a key speaker at the Conference.
Anil Babu said the support of UNSW, particularly the UNSW Division of Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement’s Verity Firth and Alison Avery, meant the idea gained traction as an impactful example of change rather than just as a concept.
“The idea seems to have resonated with many because delegates from other universities approached me with interest in having green trails at their campus,” he said. They included World Health Organization delegates who want to collaborate on a training program to be launched next year as part of their own healthy city initiative.
He added the Bush Tucker Trail also aligned with Seoul’s plan to add ‘1000 Gardens by 2026’.
“I believe this shows great potential for cities across Australia to have more bush trails within the city perimeter,” Babu said.
The four UNSW students in Seoul (Meletath, Babu, Hutton, and Atkinson) also led the launch of the Young Leaders Network of the Alliance for Healthy Cities at the Global Conference, which was held in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Conference proved to be a major success for UNSW, with a number of its leaders, including UNSW Cities Institute’s Peter Poulet and Dr Kim, UNSW Climate-Resilient Cities Research Lab’s Negin Nazarian, and UNSW Health Equity Research and Development Unit’s Fiona Haigh, facilitating sessions with government, research and policy leaders from across the Asia-Pacific.
(left to right)
- An Tran - PhD Student, Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity (CPHCE)
- Dr. Negin Nazarian - Lead, UNSW Climate-Resilient Cities Research Lab
- Dr. Jinhee Kim - UNSW Cities Institute Scientia Fellow
- Anil Babu – UNSW Master of Environmental Management student
- Ardra Meletath - Project Administrator at the UNSW Cities Institute
- Salote Nasalo - Masters Candidate at the University of the South Pacific (soon to join UNSW as a Phd student at UNSW)
- Timothy Hutton – UNSW Bachelor of City Planning student
- Tim Atkinson – UNSW Bachelor of City Planning student
- Fiona Haigh - Director, Health Equity Research and Development Unit (HERDU)
- Peter Poulet - Director, UNSW Cities Institute
- Peter McCue - Policy and Planning, NSW Office of Sport
- Prof. Hoon Han - Professor of City Planning and the Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute-UNSW Centre