SNU summer school student Seongam Hong

SNU summer school student Seungyeon Jung

SNU summer school students and academics from the Business School

The University of Sussex Business School partnered with Seoul National University (SNU) to provide sustainability and innovation training to South Korean students this summer. In this interview, we speak with Seungyeon Jung and Seongam Hong, two students from Seoul University, to find out what they have learnt from their time at the Business School, and how we can work together to create a more sustainable future.

What have you learnt from the programme about how sustainability and innovation are implemented across systems and society?

Seungyeon: I learnt about the direction, processes, and initiatives of UK innovation. I discovered the concept of sustainability and the approach to a more sustainable society. Particularly, I remembered two concepts, ‘path dependence’ and ‘lock-in’ that explain logically why some innovation is hard to achieve.

I now realise that if I want to change our society, I must try to influence people’s small habits. Likewise, I will study how policy and law affect people’s lives, because they are very important determinants of success. The whole course helped me to gain the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed for sustainability and innovation.

Seongam: Through the summer school programme, I was able to learn about how sustainability and innovation are implemented. There are 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) set at a global level by the United Nations (UN). In accordance with the SDGs, detailed goals are set at a national level, then again at a regional level, to have an impact.
The same goes for innovation. Innovation is influenced by the socio-technical landscape which is made at the global, national, or regional level. I was impressed with the multi-level perspective.

Through this, I learned about the process of implementing innovation. At first, there were numerous niche innovations, but in the process of competing and becoming more sophisticated, they were unified into one niche innovation, eventually breaking the incumbent regime, and forming a new one.

Finally, we learnt about the national system of innovation. Rather than emphasizing only the strength of each company, government, university, etc. Their deep cooperation was equally as important. This was how Japan was able to achieve high growth through innovation.

How do our UK sustainability practices in business compare to those used in Korea?

Seungyeon: Sustainability is a very important and interesting topic in the UK as well as in Korea. A lot of companies are aiming for eco-friendly management. First, there are some firms that want to develop green technologies. For instance, Land Securities Group in the UK has green roof technology helpful to expand green space in urban areas and Hyundai Motor has participated in the sea forest development project, and is making efforts not only to reduce carbon but also to restore the marine ecosystem on the coast of Korea.

Secondly, companies try to boost career opportunities for young people. In the UK, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), offer their employees the National Living Wage and run the strongest apprenticeship to support young people. In Korea, Samsung tries to provide mentorship and networking spaces for young leaders interested in sustainability. Consequently, firms in both countries try to move towards a more sustainable society.

Seongam: When compared with Korea, the UK introduced sustainability-related financial disclosures to companies more quickly. In addition, the content that companies must disclose is more specific than in Korea. This is likely to put UK companies at the forefront of sustainable business globally, helping to grow the economy.

How will you take forward/implement what you have learnt from the programme into your plans?

Seungyeon: I plan to find out what I can do for a sustainable society, practice it, and encourage people to join in. I was deeply impressed by the circular economy of Brighton and Hove. For example, people collect food waste and ferment it, to use as manure for growing their produce. I hope that this approach can be widely applied in Korea. I would like to use the knowledge and practices learned in this programme to participate in the eco-friendly Green Policy Contest in my town. Moreover, I want to be an engineer who pursues sustainable development.

Seongam: First, through the programme, I realised that it is possible to pursue sustainability through innovation in my home life even if it is not in a professional field. I will personally increase my actions for sustainability so that I can positively influence those around me. And if I have a good idea, I can share this with others through club activities, campaigns, and entrepreneurship. In fact, since returning to Korea, I have participated in an idea contest to try and  create a more susainable society.

I can also relate it to my major in Biology Education. Currently, education on sustainability has become a necessity in South Korea. Middle and high school students are now more aware of the global issues facing us, and they are taking part in activities that encourage them to think about how to solve these problems.
Last year, I also had students do related activities through educational volunteer work. At that time, I saw students having difficulties in formulating ideas, so I thought about how students could make practical ways to solve sustainability.

What I learned in the summer school programme will be helpful when I teach middle and high school students. The lectures related to sustainability and innovation have given me some great ideas, and having discussed these with other students, and had them evaluated by professors, I can now implement these into my teaching methods to nurture future generations who will lead sustainability in South Korea.

What has been the most influential aspect of the SNU/SPRU Summer School and how has it changed the way you will work in the future?

Seungyeon: I was most impressed by the pre-team discussions and the final presentation, where I was able to hear ideas from other teams. Sustainability and innovation are related to all fields. Since each student at our summer school has a different major, we were able to share our opinions according to each study field, which provided a great opportunity to hear from a range of perspectives.

I learnt that policy and law have a profound effect on how people perceive environmental problems and how important it is that individuals' actions change, as well as society. From now on, I will look at how my actions affect the environment and think critically about government policies or laws for a more sustainable society.

Seongam: Before the summer school programme, I had only met students from education or science majors, but the students in this programme all had different majors, which highlighted the power of diversity. It was the first time I had experienced taking a class with a foreign professor in a foreign country.

As this was a new experience, I was a bit worried about taking classes and doing group activities, but I needn’t have been. As sustainability and innovation are not tied to a single field, a multi-disciplinary approach was required. Because it was so diverse, I was able to learn so much from others in the program.

Before this, I worked with people who had a similar theoretical background to mine. However, after this experience, I want to expand my horizons by interacting with people from other fields. I would like to gain a new perspective by increasing my contact with foreign countries other than South Korea.

What is South Korea doing to tackle climate change and create sustainable systems?

Seungyeon: Korea has felt the impact of climate change more than the global average, with an increase in extreme rainfall, a decrease in coniferous habitat, and the crop cultivation area shifting to the north. 

The government has established climate change adaptive governance to enhance adaptability to geographically vulnerable climate risks, strengthening climate change monitoring, forecasting, and evaluation. These include the ‘Green Growth Act’ and the ‘Framework Act on Carbon Neutralisation’ established in 2021, which help create adaptation measures.

It has also implemented the ‘National Carbon Neutral Green Growth Basic Plan’ and ‘National Climate Crisis Adaptation Measures’ and has formed the ‘2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee’ to facilitate communication with various sectors of society regarding major policies and plans for the implementation of carbon neutrality.

Seongam: There are several ministries, centered on the Ministry of Environment, which have a national greenhouse gas reduction management system. Ministries in each sector, such as energy, industry, agriculture, and waste, are making policies to reduce greenhouse gases. These policies are spreading to industries, households, and public institutions, encouraging greenhouse gas reduction. Government departments set and manage greenhouse gas reduction targets for industry and are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, companies themselves are making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the emissions generated by their manufacturing process. They are also leading campaigns to improve the environmental awareness of their consumers. For example, a big café chain in South Korea ran a campaign to encourage consumers to join in by using eco-friendly paper straws.

Moreover, through ‘idea contests’ hosted by public institutions and companies, good ideas created by the public lead to actual policies or start-ups, and these can contribute to a more sustainable future.

What insight into Korean sustainability and innovation practices do you think the UK could benefit from?

Seungyeon: The UK is the first country in the world to legislate greenhouse gas reduction targets and leads for carbon neutrality such as decoupling economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions. However, Korea has a manufacturing-oriented and energy-intensive industrial structure. Hence, it will take time to reach the goal of carbon neutrality by developing green technologies. I believe that the UK and Korea have similar goals, so they should share information, technologies, and experience to overcome the climate crisis.

Seongam: First, it would be nice to implement a strong separate collection policy and volume-rate garbage system, which is being done in South Korea. Since South Korea implemented this policy, it has been able to confirm a noticeable decrease in waste and an increase in recycling compared to before. Also, it would be good if food waste was collected separately from general waste. South Korea separates and collects food waste, which is recycled as feed or compost.

Also, when using the train, paper tickets could be digitized so that passengers can board with a transportation card or mobile phone. South Korea also used paper tickets in the past, but by eliminating them, a lot of paper waste was reduced. [In recent years the UK has introduced digital tickets alongside paper ones – Ed.]

Lastly, I hope to spread the bike-sharing system widely. While in the UK, it was hard to see people commuting on bicycles compared to South Korea. In South Korea, cities and companies have introduced a bicycle-sharing system, and many citizens are using it as a means of transportation. Since this helps reduce carbon dioxide and improve citizens' health, it would be good to introduce it to the UK. People who live near parks tend to use bicycles more, and since the UK has more parks than South Korea, there will likely be more bicycle users if a bicycle-sharing system is introduced.

What top three changes will you make to reduce your carbon footprint and live more sustainably?

Seungyeon: I think it is important to have a sustainable diet, so I will eat seasonal food produced in my town as much as possible. I will strictly follow the relevant rules to classify and submit recyclables, which I have been doing a little already, by separating my garbage into plastic, vinyl, and paper before recycling. Finally, I will cook only as much as I can eat to reduce food waste. I believe that these kinds of actions contribute to a sustainable society.

Seongam: Firstly, I will use a non-disposable (multi-use) spoon and chopsticks to eat food. In South Korea, we eat a lot of delivery food. In this case, most people use disposable spoons and chopsticks. I can reduce my carbon footprint by not using these disposable items.

I carry a multi-use cup for drink refills. When someone buys a drink from a café, they receive it in a plastic cup. However, overuse of plastic also leaves a carbon footprint, and there are problems such as plastic becoming marine debris and threatening marine life. So, to alleviate this problem a bit, I will carry my bottle and cup.

Finally, I will erase unused digital data. The more data there is, the more power the data centre consumes, which is equivalent to inducing carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, I will try to reduce this problem by erasing digital data periodically. By setting a notification on the phone calendar at a specific interval, on the day when the notification is triggered, I will reduce digital data by deleting unnecessary emails, organizing photo albums, and downloading storage.