133
accountant with a large professional services fi rm and volunteering with the Irish
National Trust. The APIEL includes students from diverse backgrounds with the
author’s undergraduate degree being in geography, a subject that explores the tension between human activities and development, and the natural environment, and
thus led naturally to an interest in APIEL.
8.5.2.1 The APIEL Experience
“There was a core taught element to the APIEL which familiarized students with
some of the main environmental issues which are being grappled with (particularly
in Asia) and provided analytical frameworks with which such issues can be studied.
Whilst it was important to have an understanding of the science behind the issues,
with the main focus on environmental leadership, a key learning objective was to
understand how stakeholders could be mobilized and managed to achieve particular
objectives.
“However, it was the fi eldwork element of APIEL that had the greatest impact on
the students’ development. The author took part in one overseas fi eldtrip in the Pearl
River Delta in China where students from a great diversity of backgrounds had the
opportunity to network. The theme of the fi eldwork was trans-boundary pollution.
Given the current standoff on environmental issues between the developed and
developing worlds, it was particularly fascinating to get fi rst-hand insights into how
political issues are dealt with in the Chinese context. This included privileged access
to sites of pollution, and policymakers and business leaders who provided details of
their own agenda and their vision for how environmental issues will be dealt with in
the coming years and decades.
“Other students took place in fi eld units in other parts of Asia, such as Thailand,
Vietnam and Northern China. The following year participants from each of these
fi eld units were brought together at the Young Environmental Leaders Summit held
in Hokkaido. This workshop focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and
particularly on how, in recent times, companies have sought to integrate CSR into
their core business strategies, rather than using it in a responsive way to manipulate
public opinion.
“The Green Energy Workshop included the opportunity to examine the energy
challenge faced by Japan. As part of this trip students visited a nuclear power plant
and a nearby pump-storage plant and learned how the two are used in tandem so that
the excess power generated at night by the nuclear plant can be used to provide for
generation at peak daytime hours. Debates held during this unit provided students
with a unique perspective on the controversy surrounding the future of the nuclear
industry given the context of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which shortly
followed the fi eld unit.
“By examining such tough issues in multidisciplinary groups, those from nonengineering backgrounds were forced to accept that ideology is constrained by what
technology will allow. At the same time, those from purely technical backgrounds
gained an understanding of externalities and the confl ict that can exist between
8 Resonance in the Asian Program for Incubation of Environmental Leaders
accountant with a large professional services fi rm and volunteering with the Irish
National Trust. The APIEL includes students from diverse backgrounds with the
author’s undergraduate degree being in geography, a subject that explores the tension between human activities and development, and the natural environment, and
thus led naturally to an interest in APIEL.
8.5.2.1 The APIEL Experience
“There was a core taught element to the APIEL which familiarized students with
some of the main environmental issues which are being grappled with (particularly
in Asia) and provided analytical frameworks with which such issues can be studied.
Whilst it was important to have an understanding of the science behind the issues,
with the main focus on environmental leadership, a key learning objective was to
understand how stakeholders could be mobilized and managed to achieve particular
objectives.
“However, it was the fi eldwork element of APIEL that had the greatest impact on
the students’ development. The author took part in one overseas fi eldtrip in the Pearl
River Delta in China where students from a great diversity of backgrounds had the
opportunity to network. The theme of the fi eldwork was trans-boundary pollution.
Given the current standoff on environmental issues between the developed and
developing worlds, it was particularly fascinating to get fi rst-hand insights into how
political issues are dealt with in the Chinese context. This included privileged access
to sites of pollution, and policymakers and business leaders who provided details of
their own agenda and their vision for how environmental issues will be dealt with in
the coming years and decades.
“Other students took place in fi eld units in other parts of Asia, such as Thailand,
Vietnam and Northern China. The following year participants from each of these
fi eld units were brought together at the Young Environmental Leaders Summit held
in Hokkaido. This workshop focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and
particularly on how, in recent times, companies have sought to integrate CSR into
their core business strategies, rather than using it in a responsive way to manipulate
public opinion.
“The Green Energy Workshop included the opportunity to examine the energy
challenge faced by Japan. As part of this trip students visited a nuclear power plant
and a nearby pump-storage plant and learned how the two are used in tandem so that
the excess power generated at night by the nuclear plant can be used to provide for
generation at peak daytime hours. Debates held during this unit provided students
with a unique perspective on the controversy surrounding the future of the nuclear
industry given the context of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which shortly
followed the fi eld unit.
“By examining such tough issues in multidisciplinary groups, those from nonengineering backgrounds were forced to accept that ideology is constrained by what
technology will allow. At the same time, those from purely technical backgrounds
gained an understanding of externalities and the confl ict that can exist between
8 Resonance in the Asian Program for Incubation of Environmental Leaders