55th Meeting - Master Class with Dr. Hea-Jin Park

Date: 24 September, 2021

Place: Zoom

Participants: Vivien, Matthew, 100선생 & Dr. Dr. Park

It was a great opportunity to listen to the book introduction by Dr. Dr. Park (medical doctor and history PhD!). The book '호흡공동체' sheds lights on the emerging 'breathing communities' where no one in the society can be left unattended. While covering various airborne disasters - from microdust pollution to heatwaves and the Covid-19 pandemic, we learned how people and the government in South Korea are dealing with these challenges through the public policies and the market mechanism.

Although it was not mentioned in the book, it was clear to us that it was air as common goods (I prefer to use the term common instead of public goods as people tend to think that it is the government that is responsible for managing public goods, while the term common goods expands the participants to communities and citizens). In fact, the title of the book '호흡공동체' clearly shows that the environmental crisis is actually a social crisis which our deeply divided societies seem to be incapable of resolving.

Also, we agreed that the authors - STS (science, technology, and society) experts could have drawn more social and policy implications rather than just leaving it within the purview of policy makers.

Overall, it was a very timely topic and the book was very informative. Learning the art of storytelling was another excellent lesson for all.

I thank Heajin again for leading this fascinating session. <100>