Reaching Out to the Community
PolyU is committed to promoting social engagement and socially responsible citizenship on campus and beyond. A devoted volunteer team of warm-hearted students, existing and former staff members, alumni, and their families and friends join hands with faculties and departments to serve the community through an array of voluntary services.
During the reporting year, PolyU launched diverse outreach activities that engaged families, alumni, and the community, with an aim to maintain close and harmonious relationships and maximize the impact of sustainability awareness education. As an educational institution, PolyU is glad to contribute our expertise to and share our knowledge on sustainability with society through offering consultancy services and organizing forums and symposiums.
Promoting Sustainability Awareness
To introduce the latest campus initiatives to the public and communicate our sustainability efforts, PolyU actively approaches different stakeholder groups to stimulate positive social changes through various public activities.
A green reunion with our alumni
The Alumni Affairs and Development Office organized a Green Campus Tour for our alumni at PolyU on 18 May 2018. Mr. Joseph Chan, Head of Campus Sustainability, introduced PolyU’s latest sustainability and environmental advancements to the alumni and elaborated on the University’s significant sustainability-related achievements, research projects, and online platforms. Participants also enjoyed a guided tour of campus greenery and visited an upcycled urban farming site at the VA Terrace.
Inter-disciplinary Symposium on “Primary Health Care (PHC)”
Jointly organized by PolyU’s Faculty of Health and Social Sciences and General Education Centre, an interdisciplinary Symposium on “Primary Health Care (PHC) in Hong Kong: Vision and Challenges” was held on 3 October 2018. Engaging more than 120 scholars, government officials, and professionals from the health care and welfare sector, the Symposium aimed to initiate dialogues and promote collaboration among stakeholder groups. Topics for discussions included the pressing need for implementing PHC in Hong Kong, the vision and challenges, resources required from the health care sector to cope with development, and the roles of health care and welfare professionals. PolyU's scholars in the fields of health care, social sciences and general education shared their insights and challenges in promoting PHC in different health care professions, including nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, optometry, radiography, and social sciences.
Driving Social Innovation towards Sustainability
PolyU has established The Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation (JCDISI) to steer social innovation research and practice. Through stimulating different research projects, JCDISI promotes holistic community engagement and multi-disciplinary collaboration, to generate beneficial and sustainable results for the community. It is currently conducting a number of impactful thematic projects to drive social innovations. In the near future, there are plans to bring up sustainability values and uphold related concepts.
PolyU Jockey Club “Operation SoInno”
To address the pressing social issues related to “Double Ageing” – ageing of people and buildings, the JCDISI launched a 3-year innovation programme called “Operation SoInno” in October 2018 with financial support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The programme aims to gather collective wisdom from stakeholders from different industries and professions to contribute innovative solutions to meet social needs. It also places emphasis on education as well as experience and knowledge sharing for social innovations.
During its first year, the programme focuses on tackling issues such as “transitional social housing”, “elderly-friendly employment”, “inter-generational playgrounds”, and “re-imagined elderly service centres”. The programme’s first symposium was successfully held on 6 October 2018 to provide a platform to discuss potential strategies for “transitional social housing”. The event attracted about 200 attendees from various sectors.