Finalists of the Bai Xian Alumni Initiative Award 2019
The Alumni Initiative Award 2019 (AIA) features the themes of: (1) Community Integration, (2) Heritage Preservation, and (3) Social Innovation.
The Alumni Initiative Award 2019 (AIA) features the themes of: (1) Community Integration, (2) Heritage Preservation, and (3) Social Innovation.
Our two finalist teams, Ethnic Neighborhoods and Tara Jaan Project, had been working hard over the past months devising, improving on, and polishing their respective action plans under the guidance of BXAI-appointed mentors; and gave their final presentations at the Summer Program 2019.
Our two finalist teams, Ethnic Neighborhoods and Tara Jaan Project, had been working hard over the past months devising, improving on, and polishing their respective action plans under the guidance of BXAI-appointed mentors; and gave their final presentations at the Summer Program 2019.
Ethnic Neighborhoods was named the winner of the 2019 AIA and was awarded a cash prize and seed funding to take its idea forward.
Ethnic Neighborhoods was named the winner of the 2019 AIA and was awarded a cash prize and seed funding to take its idea forward.
The finalists of the 2019 AIA were:
The finalists of the 2019 AIA were:
Ethnic Neighborhoods
Project leader:
- KIM Daum, BX Alumna, Korean, Master of Media and Governance at Keio University
Project members:
- GAO Zongya, BX Alumnus, Chinese, Master of Business Administration at Hitotsubashi University ICS
- KAWAUCHI Hiroki, Japanese, Freelance TV & Film Director at NHK Japan
Ethnic Neighborhoods is a not-for-profit social project that aims to foster cross-cultural understanding and harmony by highlighting immigrant communities and real-life stories through creative video content. Members of the Ethnic Neighborhoods team visit ethnic enclaves across East Asia and introduce the unique cultures of these immigrant communities as they sample distinctive cuisines, chat with locals, and participate in special cultural experiences, customs, and rituals. Through engaging video stories that showcase the beauty and vibrancy of these diverse communities, Ethnic Neighborhoods hopes to break down the walls that exist between immigrants and natives, and ultimately make a positive impact on issues often faced by immigrants such as discrimination, ostracization, and lack of integration. To maximize reach and exposure, video content produced by Ethnic Neighborhoods will be posted to a variety of social media platforms and video streaming sites on a regular basis, thereby creating momentum and raising awareness of its mission.
Tara Jaan Project
Project leader:
- MATSUDA Aya, BX Alumna, Japanese, PhD in Chinese Philosophy at Peking University
Project members:
- YOKOYAMA Azusa, BX Alumna, Japanese, Bachelor in Electrical Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University
- Naveen Kumar, Indian, Junior High School Teacher
- Prince Kumar, Indian, High School Student
The Tara Jaan Project aims to uplift and revitalize the community of Bodh Gaya in India by introducing sustainable production and living practices that facilitate self-sufficiency and address deeply rooted issues associated with the systemic poverty of the region. The project will adopt a three-step approach to achieve its objectives: (1) introduce an alternative source of income to locals by teaching them to produce and sell organic mosquito coils; (2) educate locals on permaculture and equip them to transfer their knowledge to others in the community; and (3) enable and encourage trained individuals to apply their permaculture knowledge to a demonstration farm and eventually their own farms. The Tara Jaan Project believes that permaculture is a sustainable solution to the many issues faced by the Bodh Gaya community, allowing locals to participate in a type of agricultural production that is not only self-sustaining and economically viable, but also works to improve environmental conditions in the long run.
