Report-back Demonstration of SLP 1101 Course,
Semester 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year
Farming in Games
By Innovation & Technology Team
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Many think of Hong Kong as a modern business centre since Hong Kong had been an important trading centre for decades...
However, in recent years, beyond trade and business services, the agricultural industry start gaining the attention of Hong Kong people
The agriculture industry in Hong kong was not a big one, to be precise:
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The source of food mainly comes from import (~95-98%)
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Hong Kong does not have sufficient land resources for farming
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Not everyone has the dedication and perseverance to have farming business as their major career
Thus, through the study, we would like to:
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Have a thorough understanding of the situation of urban farming in Hong Kong
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Learn about the motivations of farmers and their business
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Provide help and support to their business as a form of community engagement
PLANNING
Our plan starts with conducting online research on different types of urban farming in Hong Kong, and setting up our directions according to the "SOAP" format
S being Subjective
How we think of urban farming before we actually come in contact with the stakeholders or the farming events
BACKGROUND OF PROJECT
Our study and project focuses on providing help to rooftop farms in Hong Kong, specifically cooperating with the organization Rooftop Republic
Rooftop Republic is a Non-Governmental & Nonprofit Social Enterprise in Hong Kong, having a total of 61 rooftop farms around Hong Kong
Rooftop Republic maintains farms around the rooftops of schools, hotels, commercial commercial buildings etc.
Shared common values:
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Practical values, as a productive venue
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Transforming under-utilized and potential rooftops into productive farms and gardens
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Business opportunities, farmer as an occupation
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Social values​, as a leisure venue
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Destress from city life
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Create shared value and common interest
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Provide platform for educational activities, talks and visits
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Meaningful deeds and community engagement (under social values)
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Provide platform for elderly and the disabled to engage with their community
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Donate the harvest to those in needed
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Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The SDGs were goals design during the United Nation General Assembly in the 2015
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It serves as a blueprint to achieve sustainable development worldwide.
Rooftop Republic's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Among the 17 SDGs, 3 of the SDGs are connected to the farming practice of Rooftop Republic
Growing and eating locally can reduce "food miles", which improves air quality. Also, the farms mitigate the "urban heat island" effect by helping to lower the temperature of urban districts
Providing green spaces for the urbanites to destress and engage with their community. Creating shared value among the HK people.
Cultivating a food cherishing attitude by helping people understand how difficult it is to obtain the harvest. Ultimately, it reduces the amount of food waste.
For more information about SDGs, click below:
Link to the SDGs official page,
for educational purpose
For more information about Rooftop Republic, click below:
Link to the Rooftop Republic official page,
for educational purpose
RECORDS OF
GUEST SHARING BY ROOFTOP REPUBLIC
Before the sharing...
As mentioned in the previous sections, we worked according to the SOAP notes, thus, we developed some subjective ideas (S) towards rooftop farming before hearing from our community partners at Rooftop Republic
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We thought they would encounter a lot of problems due to the buildings structure
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We thought the whole practice of farming will be very problematic and costly given that it is located on rooftop and transport of goods and facilities requires additional labor, time and capital
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We thought it will be hard to expand into a relatively large scale production due to the limitations and lack of awareness
Conversations with Community Partners
On 14 April, 2020, we were lucky and thankful to have Rooftop Republic gave us a guest sharing on their farming practices in Hong Kong.
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In the discussion section, we were able to ask the questions we prepared for the"Objective" Section of the SOAP notes
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The records as follows:
Q1: What are the factors concerned as making farm on the rooftop?
​Answers from Rooftop Republic manager:
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Suitable climate/environment
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Appropriate location/ Site characteristics/
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Infrastructure
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Permission from the owner of the rooftop
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Accessibility and Awareness: whether the public could access and know about the rooftop garden and could it become a perfect spot for interactions
Q2: Bad weathers, like typhoons and rainstorms, are often occur in the summertime, do rooftop farming have any measures to tackle bad weathers?
Answers from the community people
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Soil are quite heavy, it helps the crops to resist the strong wind.
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We just have to tidy up the sundries and remove any the sheds.
ASSESSMENT (A)
Through the guest share and asking questions, we find out two things:
1. There are not many problems in terms of farming techniques or facilities, the difficulties are usually communication-related.
We wonder if it means they don’t need much help in terms of farming technology, but they instead need an innovative or effective way to raise people’s awareness of a greener lifestyle and increase their brand recognition.
2. Hong Kong people lack of understanding of rooftop farming importance.
We think they may need help in terms of
promoting the benefits and their core value of rooftop farming to the public.
DESIGN QUESTION (P)
With the above assessments and Design Thinking, we came up with
a Design Question in the "How-Might-We" format as shown below.
This will be the major Design Question for the development and direction of our project
How might we
support rooftop farmers who have difficulties in promoting their ideas of rooftop farming to
let more people understand the benefits of such practice by
developing a mobile game/application.