IACSC 2023 Conference and Short Course for Students on the topic “Urban Issues in Peri-Urban Areas” organized by Thammasat University, Thailand.
Every summer, Yokohama City University (YCU) - Japan carries out a series of academic activities of the IACSC network - International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities, which has been developing since 2009. This network is an opportunity to develop cooperative relationships, build specialized research cooperation projects between member universities, and also help exchange and improve research capacity for students. Since 2013, VNU-HCM has always been an active member, participating and co-organizing many specialized activities. In the summer of 2023, in order to continue and develop the academic activities of the network, the IACSC 2023 international conference was held directly at Thammasat University, Thailand on August 31, 2023, and the network also organized 02 short-term courses for students, lasting from August 23, 2023 to August 31, 2023.
This year's conference program with the theme "Urbanization issues in peri-urban areas" was held enthusiastically at Thammasat University, Thailand. Attending the conference were representatives from member universities in the network including YCU (Japan), UP (Philippines), USM (Malaysia), UNHAS (Indonesia), TU (Thailand) and VNU (Vietnam).
The conference program included a total of 26 presentations by authors, 6 student groups, and 3 messages sent to the conference by the President of YCU, Dean of the Faculty of Planning and Architecture (APTU) - Thammasat University and the Professional Advisor of YCU. The presentations emphasized the issues of suburban urban development in some countries, especially in Southeast Asia, its consequences on the environment, public health, climate change, and finally the shortcomings in urban planning mentioned to share experiences with countries in the region.
In addition to the academic exchange activities of scholars and researchers, the course for students was also held enthusiastically, attracting a large number of students. A total of 89 students participated, including: Japan (22 students), Vietnam (15 students), Thailand (40 students), Malaysia (1 student), Philippines (3 students), Indonesia (8 students) along with representatives of schools from Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, instructors and the organizing committee of TDS (Thammasat Design School).
Course content includes:
(1) SUDP course - Sustainable Urban Development is a course focusing on environmental issues, public health, and the impact of informal settlements on urban areas.
(2) IUPW course - Urban Planning Practice is a course that helps students practice urban re-planning to solve and minimize the problems that urban areas are facing.
Students of both SUDP and IUPW courses received lectures directly from the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning - Thammasat University, then went on field trips to suburban locations. After the field trip, each group of students chose a prominent urban issue in the observed area, presented on that issue and proposed appropriate ideas and solutions. After the course, students had positive feedback on what they learned such as supplementing skills related to using software, practicing English communication skills, overcoming anxiety when presenting, and having the opportunity to exchange and defend their views on current social issues of interest to many countries. Above all, students had the opportunity to exchange and learn about the cultures of other countries and continue to maintain connections connecting students from other schools in the future. The Workshop and Course were a great success, helping to connect and exchange academic activities, besides providing an interesting interactive learning format, and being a playground for students to be creative, exchange, and suggest new ideas to solve urgent urban problems, as well as develop other necessary soft skills to integrate internationally.
Figure 1. Speeches by the President of YCU, Dean of APTU Thammasat University and YCU's Academic Advisor - Prof. Hidefumi Imura
Figure 2. IACSC 2023 Conference at Thammasat University, Thailand
Figure 3. Exchange activities with international students, field trips, and reports in Thailand
Faculty of Urban Studies
