Mongolian Critical Zones: Experiential Learning in the Winter Steppes

Mongolian Critical Zone: Experiential Learning in the Winter Steppes is a 7-day experiential learning trip to the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, designed to give HKU students to experience tackling the intertwined issues of sustainable urban living in extreme climates and youth education/mentorship within marginalized communities (Ger districts and rural areas). From 12 January 2026 to 18 January 2026, participants will engage in transdisciplinary discourse with two local NGOs, Gerhub and Nuuldelch Zuslan, who will introduce to participants the way of sustainable living in the extreme winter, as well as collaborate with participants to provide local youth empowerment. The Trip frames Ulaanbaatar’s winter urban–steppe interface as a “Critical Zone”, treating the city as a situated observatory that shifts from distant global views to terrestrial, place-based inquiry that integrates housing, health, education, and environment into one transdisciplinary method of volunteering and research.

This trip is held by the Transdisciplinary Initiative for Talents and Innovators (TITAN), with its committee members as the project facilitators. The Transdisciplinary Initiative for Talents and Innovators (TITAN) is a student initiative aimed towards promoting and cultivating transdisciplinary mindsets, skills, and works across broad areas of investigation, including but not limited to academia. The initiative is a student partner of the Common Core Office, the University of Hong Kong, under Common Core Hong Kong Learning Partners. Moreover, the initiative is endorsed by the Millennium Fellowship 2025 Cohort HKU Campus, which is presented by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the Millennium Campus Network (MCN). It is active in providing various student-enrichment activities, including experiential field trips and workshops.

Only undergraduate HKU students are eligible to participant. For more information, please contact: Philip Chung Hong Li (plich@connect.hku.hk)