Destinations

In India, you'll be based at one of our two partner university campuses in Mumbai, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) or the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and in Delhi, with OP Jindal Global University.

In the Mumbai program, you'll be working with local students and organisations to understand the environmental challenges faced by one of India’s biggest and most populated cities. You'll learn from local academics, NGOs and businesses to understand the impact that rapid urbanisation has had on the natural environment, and the communities that inhabit them.

In the Delhi program, you will be based at the OP Jindal Global University campus in Sonipat, where you'll be engaging with issues such as rural and urban development and the environment, the Indian response to climate change, and sustainable agriculture, among others.

Travelling to one of the most environmentally sensitive regions on earth, you will be based at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji. You will learn from and engage with leading local experts, conservationists and youth advocates about efforts to protect the fragile Island ecosystems and prevent the impact of climate change across the region.

In Indonesia, you will travel to one of the country’s 18,000 islands to begin to understand how different communities can balance economic development and environmental sustainability. You may be based in  Jakarta or Yogyakarta. At the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta – the nation’s cultural capital – you will be introduced to some of the biggest environmental challenges faced by one of Australia’s most important global partners.

In Jakarta, you spend time at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia and the Monash Indonesia campus. While here, you will see first-hand the impact that climate change is having on the nation's capital. You will be partnered with local students to gain an insight into life around the city and what they are doing to help address pressing issues.

In Italy, you'll be based at the Monash Prato Centre. Here you will be exploring the evolving relationship between communities and the natural environment, and witness first-hand the impact that this has. You will be asked to think about how communities in Italy can balance the changing nature of economic and social development and environmental protection in some of the most widely visited places in the world.

In the middle of the program, you will then visit one of the following field sites:

Cinque Terre

You will explore the impact that climate change, rural depopulation, abandonment of agricultural lands, landscape instability and mass tourism is having on the World Heritage area of the Cinque Terre national park.

Venice

You will be prompted to think about the impact of tourism and its challenges, like balancing the financial, environmental and community-based implications of the high levels of tourism in an already uncertain environment. Rising sea levels and increasing levels of water pollution are not only threatening the historical centre of Venice but also the fragile ecosystem of the canals.

Siena

Visiting the University of Siena and the Santa Chiara Lab, you will see first-hand how technology and multidisciplinary innovations are being used to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals at the community level, and all around Italy.

In Malaysia, you will be based at the Monash University Malaysia campus in Kuala Lumpur. You'll explore a number of the country’s contemporary sustainability challenges, and undertake a series of seminars and lectures exploring what sustainability means in a context of rapid social, economic and cultural change. You will then travel to Penang where you learn directly from local experts and community groups about cultural heritage and conservation, and the ways they are protecting their natural environment.

In the Vanuatu program, you will travel to the small island nation 1,700km away from Australia. Vanuatu is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change and whilst you are there, you will learn from local experts and advocates about the ambitious goals and objectives for addressing sustainable development. Based at the USP Emalus Vanuatu Campus, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with local organisations to understand how key challenges are being tackled in ways that reflect the cultural traditions and knowledge of the country.

In Samoa, you will be based at the USP Samoa Campus, in Apia, where you will learn about the adverse effects of climate change on this small island nation. There, you will have the opportunity to explore some of the most complex issues facing Samoa, such as food insecurity and agricultural development –  topics that are of high priority on the global agenda. You will have the opportunity to see these challenges first-hand as well as the efforts by local organisations to address them.

In China, you'll be based in the dynamic, cosmopolitan city of Shanghai. You'll engage cross-sector to explore issues of sustainability through the economic, environmental and societal lens. There will be a series of seminars that you'll undertake with experts from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. You'll then see both the challenges and solutions first-hand by visiting a range of field sites.

During your time in China, you will connect with dynamic businesses in Shanghai influencing change.