Travel has always been a dream of mine, coming from a very sheltered background, the idea of being able to immerse myself into a different culture where everything from the people to the food to the buildings and even the very air is different is incredibly exciting.
I love to travel and visit new places and try new things, it is something incredibly valuable and that is why I think it should be preserved. It should be done in such a way that we can leave behind as little harm as possible to protect it as an ideal for generations to come.
I study Electronic & Computer engineering, so I am aware within such a resource heavy industry of the realities of progress coming at the cost of harm to our environment from computers optimised for a short lifecycle so you can throw it out and buy a new one, to software updates that leave otherwise useable electronics as E-waste, the current climate is focused on keeping consumers within a cycle of continuous purchases.
This links essentially into the opportunity I have signed up for at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Doing Business in China, summer school. I want to gain insight into the “factory of the world” and how business, policy, and resources are considered when building the latest tech and how we can make those things in way that will last. I think it fitting that this summer school is set in one of the oldest continuous civilizations on earth, what a fitting place to learn about how we can preserve the world we all live on for another several millenia.
Sustainable travel to me, means making thoughful choices before, during and after the journey, from something as simple as discarding waste in designated bins. Simple decisions that make big impacts like I intend to pack a reuseable water bottle, avoid single-use plastics where possible and prioritiese digital documents as opposed to printed ones. It means using China’s amazing public transport like their high speed rail, walking around the campus and buying locally.
I understand that a cleaner environment must be made by all of us, for all of us. So that means thousands and thousands of conscious decisions day in and day out that make a difference. Hopefully this placement will allow me to see into the systems that make this possible. I hope to bring back ideas that can influence my academic work, future engineering projects and personal habits.
My approach to travel aligns with the UN SDG: 4 – Quality Education, 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production.
Fundamentally we must recognis we are all custodians of this shared Earth. Travel should broaden our horizons whilst deepening our responsibility to protect the world that makes such experiences possible for the next generation of ambitious travellers.
