South-south learning prospects and the Malaysia Sustainable Cities Program

The MIT-UTM 'Malaysia Sustainable Cities Program' (MSCP) is a five-year collaboration between MIT and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. It brings eight to ten scholars a year from universities in the developing world to Malaysia for four months to document efforts in one of five Malaysian cities to reduce their carbon intensity and promote sustainable city development. The scholars then spend four months at MIT organizing their findings in working papers and educational videos for global distribution. The 27 scholars who have participated thus far have focused on disaster preparedness, flood protection, sustainable tourism, ecosystem conservation, water management, community engagement, socially responsible real estate development, the status of migrant workers, sustainable transportation, protecting cultural heritage, promoting renewable energy, greening the building process and urban regeneration. Since our primary objective is south-south learning, that’s what we will focus on in this short paper.