Mae Fah Luang University is pleased to congratulate three students of the International Development programme, the School of Social Innovation who received awards in the ASEAN Intervarsity Youth Competition 2024: ASEAN Youth Volunteerism for SDGs held at Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus. The students were supervised by Mr. Fabio Calzolari, lecturer of the School of Social Innovation.
The event, organised by Prince of Songkla University in collaboration with Universiti Utara Malaysia and Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia, took place on 5-9 June 2024. It consisted of three competitions: a Speech Contest, an ASEAN Quiz, and a Hackathon. The event aimed to advocate volunteerism for SDGs and raise awareness and understanding of ASEAN issues through ASEAN youth connectivity. As ASEAN citizens, students were required to present their innovative volunteerism ideas related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via a speech contest and a Hackathon.
MFU students won the awards as follows:
1. Speech Contest (Individual Category)
Ms. Su Lwin Lwin Thaw won the first place “Dr. Thanat Khoman Award” with a prize of 10,000 baht (out of 13 contestants).
2. ASEAN Quiz (Doubles Category)
Mr. Treewut Khutthong and Mr. Rosalan Sankoh won the third place with a prize of 2,000 baht (out of 11 teams).
3. Hackathon (Team Category)
MFU students participated in three different teams along with students from other universities (in total of 12 teams). The Hackathon focused on the community-based tourism, requiring teams to create a promotional clip of not more than two minutes about the community, propose challenges faced by the community and corresponding solutions, and conduct an SDG analysis. The results were as follows:
Ms. Su Lwin Lwin Thaw shared that “It was an experience that helped me improve my interpersonal skills. Working in a very diverse group made me realise the different qualities everyone could bring to the table to come up with the best quality work. It helped me to be more responsible about my role and position as a university representative as well. Although I am happy to receive the awards, making new friends who have wonderful personalities was the best part.”
Also, Mr. Treewut Khutthong said, “the most impressive thing of me in this trip is MFU character, our team. Because it was hard but we did it”. While Mr. Rosalan Sankoh stated “I got a lot from this trip, met new friends, learned more about ASEAN, and teamwork. The most impressive thing I have learned from the programme is a collective effort among different perspectives is crucial. By achieving a certain goal, working together and information are required. This programme supplied us with connection from students among ASEAN countries, which aligned with current chairmanship’s vision from Laos ‘Enhanced Connectivity and Resilience’.”
Photos by Prince of Songkla University
