Student stories: Yuki Chan, Regenerative Farming

In this blog post we catch up with Yuki Chan, one of our  fantastic bursary students on the MSc Regenerative Food, Farming & Enterprise, which has been running since January at Schumacher College. 

For Yuki Chan from Hong Kong, a bursary from Schumacher College has enabled her to study outside of a country that is dealing with a number of political and social challenges.

The 33 year-old says it has become increasingly uncomfortable for many resident there, who feel they are ideologically and politically different to those on mainland China.

“I left Hong Kong because of the political situation, it’s very difficult,” she said.  “I’m incredibly grateful I’m here.

“People are still trying to do what they can; farmers are trying to farm and teachers are trying to teach but they don’t know where the red line is.

“Hong Kong people are rebellious but it’s difficult when news media are closed down and people cannot protest in a group of more than three people.” 

Yuki had been working at the University of Hong Kong in the sustainability department, involved in projects such as plastic reduction and the promotion of urban farming, the physical and mental benefits as well as the environmental benefits.

A course in permaculture and visits to eco villages sparked an interest in practical design solutions which led her to the MSc Regenerative Food, Farming & Enterprise at Schumacher College.

Historically, she said, the university had a broad spread of international students but in recent years because of the political situation and then the pandemic, there were a lot more local students.

She has noticed a growing interest to discover where food comes from and when people were at home as a result of lockdowns, they got a chance to grow food at home and consider a more sustainable lifestyle.

Fortunately because Yuki was born before 1997 and so as part of the UK’s agreement with Hong Kong, citizens have the opportunity to be given a visa to work or study in the UK and they can apply for residency after that period.

“I’m not sure if my future is in Britain but there’s so much to learn here,” she added. “It’s a great community and very unlike the learning experience that I’ve had in the past – it’s very liberating and empowering.

“There (Hong Kong), many people just want to maintain the status quo but here it is a kind of bubble and you meet all these people and see how things can work. 

“It is a different way of seeing what could make a better world.”

We are currently open for applications for students to join MSc Regenerative Food, Farming and Enterprise in January 2022. The first application deadline and bursary deadline is 1 September. Find out more and apply via the button below.