Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung-ryul) and its Climate Change Response Project Team (Director Kang Yoon-hee, Professor of Russia and Eurasia Studies) participated in a two-week summer global leadership program held at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic from July 11 to 28. The program was themed “Energy Policy & Security of the EU.”

A total of 14 students and faculty members from Kookmin University and Ulsan University participated in the program. Through the program, students explored the EU's energy transition policies and energy poverty issues, recognizing the growing need to deeply understand the impact of recent energy crises and energy security issues in Europe on global energy policies.

Additionally, they studied the impact of Russia's oil dependency and energy security issues in wartime, as well as the transition to a low-carbon economy on industrial and social sectors, and gained hands-on experience in energy security and policy diversity through case studies from Central and Eastern Europe.

In particular, through lectures by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Energy Security Ambassador and Dr. James Henderson of the Oxford Energy Institute, they gained a deeper understanding of the historical context of European integration, which began with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), as well as the objectives and developments of policies such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Yang Yoon-jung (Forest and Environmental Systems, 22) said, “I was impressed by the fact that CBAM and EU ETS are tools for forming global climate norms,” adding that it was an opportunity to take a fresh look at Korea's energy policy.

The program included lectures and various field trips. The students visited SAKO Brno, a waste-to-energy facility in Brno. The students toured the WtE system, which converts household waste into heat and electricity, and observed a circular economy model at the city level. Kim Young-eun (Chinese Politics and Economics, 23) shared her impressions, saying, “The circular structure that utilizes the thermal energy generated during incineration for district heating was very impressive.”

This program was differentiated from existing exchange-focused international programs, providing students with practical learning experiences where they could analyze actual policy issues, discuss them with experts from various countries, and broaden their perspectives. We look forward to the expansion of academic collaboration and field-centered education frameworks to diversify and sustain such programs in the future.

Park Ji-eun (Chinese Politics and Economics, 23) summarized, “This program was not just an overseas training program, but a valuable experience that allowed me to broaden my horizons through exchanges with participants from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds.” She added, “The process of directly exploring complex topics spanning policy, economics, and the environment and presenting my findings was very helpful in setting my future career direction.”

Meanwhile, Kookmin University, as the host university of the HUSS Environmental Consortium, is working to cultivate future-oriented humanities and social science talents equipped with problem-solving capabilities and interdisciplinary thinking through interdisciplinary education that breaks down boundaries between universities and majors under the theme of “Coexistence and Symbiosis in the Era of Climate Crisis,” in collaboration with Deokseong Women's University, Ulsan University, Inha University, and Chosun University.