HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach^[1] - 25 March 2021 - The "MineCity" project, organised by Breakthrough and fully supported by Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong)("Zurich"), leverages the popular software Minecraft to encourage youngsters for exploring possibilities to reshape urban space in the community. In its third year, MineCity expanded its virtual community coverage to Shatin and North District. Breakthrough has conducted in-depth interview and exchanged with youngsters to understand their respective community and encouraged them to build a virtual map through Minecraft for expressing their imagination and co-building the local community.

Renowned Minecraft player Wingsthunder (Left 1), Breakthrough General Secretary Joyce Man (Left 3), Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong) CEO Eric Hui (Right 3), architect Wyan Yeung (Right 1) and student representatives participated "MineCity: The Community Dream Chaser" webinar.

The "MineCity: The Community Dream Chaser" webinar was held online today. Nearly 30 students and Zurich's volunteers presented this year's community map designs. Online public visitors had a chance to appreciate the map exhibits meticulously designed by the students and join the virtual tours guided by them. The webinar also featured a discussion between WingsThunder, renowned Minecraft player and Wyan Yeung, architect, on how Minecraft's virtual imagination can help youngsters build an ideal community, realising "Urban Imagination", "Community Integration", and "Creative Problem Solving".

Minecraft is one of the most popular software applications with more than 100 million online players worldwide. The software requires players to create and reset different blocks in three-dimensional space to construct different buildings, scenes and cities in various locations. Breakthrough believes Minecraft offers a platform for youngsters to learn together through the virtual journey of "Urban Imagination", "Community Integration", and "Creative Problem Solving". By listening, understanding and rethinking, youngsters are more familiarised with the needs of local community and bring their ideas to Minecraft to build their ideal community. Breakthrough invites avid Minecraft players to co-build community map which is based on the belief that youngsters and the future of the city are inseparable. The youngsters form teams, go into communities and discover different needs within.

In the opening remarks, Joyce Man, General Secretary of Breakthrough said, "Our gratitude goes to Zurich for its continuous support to MineCity which facilitates more student participation. This year, our programme extended its coverage to Shatin and North District. Students were encouraged to present their ideas about future community and city imaginatively, address community needs and solve related problems through Minecraft in a creative way. We hope MineCity can bring students closer together and let them contribute more to the community, which in turn benefit their future growth and learning." Joyce also thanked the support from participating schools for smooth programme execution as well as raising awareness and participation among youngsters.

Eric Hui, Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong), said, "Zurich has always been committed to serving the community and promoting empowerment of youngsters. We are delighted that MineCity has been well received by students, who have demonstrated their dedication and focus in integrating technology, interest and creativity in co-creating community maps as a team. Their collective efforts are fully demonstrated through their designs. From my personal engagement in community guided tour, I find that the program can really enrich the lives of fellow students through encouraging youngsters to feel the pace of life in our communities and gain understanding of local cultures and stories."

For the third year in a row, MineCity is organised by Breakthrough and fully supported by Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong). More than 250 youngsters have already participated in designing the online community maps of Sham Shui Po, Shatin and North District through Minecraft. Breakthrough hopes the initiative can encourage more youngsters to extend their social participation from online to offline and actively make good use of technological innovation to build the future of our community.

For more high-resolution images, please download：https://bit.ly/3s6VpOy^[2]

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} https://bit.ly/3s6VpOy (bit.ly)