HKUST Annual Report 2021-2022

14 HKUST’s forward-thinking approach to teaching and learning empowered the University to look beyond conventional academic disciplines to fuel leading talents for our fast-evolving world UNLEASHING MULTIDIMENSIONAL TALENTS The University strives to ensure its students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to make an impact on the world and its future. This saw a host of pioneering degrees and related programs introduced or planned over 2021-22. Among them, a BSc in Sustainable and Green Finance was launched, marking Hong Kong’s first program of its kind. The pioneering degree nurtures green financial expertise, which can spur the development of Hong Kong as a prominent green financial center, and support national expansion into the green finance market through the development of top global talent. Topics covered include Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), impact investment, sustainable and green project financing, sustainable and green instruments, and product development, among others. With media distributed by electronic devices having a rapidly increasing influence on how the world communicates, an Extended Major in Digital Media and Creative Arts commenced under the University’s distinctive “Major + X” degree framework. The Major + X concept, another first for Hong Kong, got underway the previous year to allow undergraduates to integrate knowledge from their own majors with emerging hot topics within an interdisciplinary program structure. The initial “X” was artificial intelligence. Under the digital media option, students can acquire the technical Learning for Life