{"id":216879,"date":"2025-04-30T16:56:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T08:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/?post_type=press&p=216879"},"modified":"2025-05-06T12:23:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T04:23:55","slug":"cuhk-project-wins-research-project-of-the-year-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences-at-the-the-awards-asia-2025","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/press\/cuhk-project-wins-research-project-of-the-year-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences-at-the-the-awards-asia-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"CUHK project wins Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the THE Awards Asia 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-216879","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"title_alt":"","sub_title_alt":"","press_date":"20250430","keep":false,"details":"

The project \u201cProject Plum Grove: A rural revitalisation prototype for sustainable placemaking through collaborative restorations\u201d, led by Professor Thomas Chung Wang-leung<\/strong>, Associate Professor of the School of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has been awarded the Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2025. The project highlights the University\u2019s commitment to addressing major societal challenges through research on cultural heritage conservation and exploring innovative community engagement models.<\/p>\r\n

Funded by the Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme (CCFS) of the Countryside Conservation Office (CCO), the project successfully revitalised the 360-year-old abandoned Hakka village of Mui Tsz Lam, providing a pioneering model for sustainable rural revitalisation in Hong Kong and beyond. Centred on collaborative restoration, the project was carried out in phases. In the first phase, the team documented the village\u2019s morphology and cultural heritage, and restored two ruined structures \u2014 the \u201cOld House\u201d and the \u201cMural House\u201d, guided by principles of in-situ<\/em>, light-touch<\/em>, and co-create<\/em>. In the second phase, the team combined traditional craftsmanship with modern techniques to transform the \u201cOld House\u201d into a community co-op named \u201cMui Tsz Lam Commons\u201d, which now serves as CUHK\u2019s education and research base. It marked a new chapter of university-village collaboration. Over the past four years, the project has mobilised more than 250 returning villagers, volunteers, students, and NGO members, inspiring additional self-initiated restoration efforts and setting a new benchmark for sustainable placemaking practices.<\/p>\r\n

Professor Chung said: \u201cWe are deeply honoured to receive recognition from Times Higher Education. This award not only affirms the efforts of our team but also highlights the importance of community-driven, sustainable revitalisation models. We hope that our work serves as an inspiration for rural restoration initiatives in Hong Kong and across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

THE Awards Asia are a major international platform that celebrates excellence in leadership, institutional achievements and innovations in higher education sector across Asia. This year, the awards received more than 500 entries from institutions across the region, with 80 projects making the final shortlist.<\/p>\r\n

Supported by CUHK\u2019s Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability and Faculty of Social Science, Professor Chung serves as the founding director of the CUHK Research Centre for Sustainable Placemaking and Urban-rural Regeneration and leads a multidisciplinary team dedicated to developing sustainable urban-rural futures for all. His research focuses on a regenerative approach that encompasses countryside conservation and co-creative placemaking. Since 2019, Professor Chung has emphasised interdisciplinary action-research, stakeholder partnerships, and resilience with social impact in his urban-rural revitalisation research. His current Hong Kong projects include other villages such as Kuk Po, Yung Shue Au and on Lantau Island, and his team is forming partnerships for projects in mainland China and beyond.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","show_as_achievement":false,"achievement_category":[],"show_as_clarification":false,"show_as_announcement":false,"photos":[{"photo":216868,"caption":"The project titled \u201cProject Plum Grove: A rural revitalisation prototype for sustainable placemaking through collaborative restorations\u201d led by Professor Thomas Chung Wang-leung (1st left), Associate Professor of the School of Architecture at CUHK, has been awarded the Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the THE Awards Asia 2025."},{"photo":216870,"caption":"Through collaborative restoration, the project revitalises the 360-year-old abandoned Hakka village of Mui Tsz Lam, providing a pioneering model for sustainable rural revitalisation in Hong Kong and beyond."},{"photo":216871,"caption":"Revitalisation of \u201cMural House\u201d in Phase I"},{"photo":216872,"caption":"\u201cOld House\u201d transformed into \u201cMui Tsz Lam Commons\u201d during Phase II"},{"photo":216873,"caption":"Patio of \u201cOld House\u201d featuring a repaired existing rammed earth wall (left) and a new rammed earth wall (right), along with upcycled brick and roof-tile paving co-created by volunteers"},{"photo":216874,"caption":"Central hall of the \u201cOld House\u201d featuring a repaired existing rammed earth wall and a timber partition with a loft above"},{"photo":216876,"caption":"Front courtyard of the \u201cOld House\u201d featuring original brickwork, a new rammed earth wall and a timber shutter opening onto the patio"},{"photo":216877,"caption":"Front courtyard of the \u201cOld House\u201d with an original granite paving semi-outdoor kitchen and a corner toilet"},{"photo":216878,"caption":"View of the central hall of the \u201cOld House\u201d looking back toward the courtyard, with co-created lighting installation"}],"attachments":null,"video_source":"","video_file":"","add_play_button":false,"video_caption":"","show_migration":false,"original_id":0,"photos_original":null,"attachments_original":null},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/216879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/216879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217018,"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/216879\/revisions\/217018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}