Happenings

Our Highlight
Event
Building an AI-Ready and Inclusive Talent Pipeline

The Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) at HKU, through the “Jockey Club Collaborative Project for Inclusive Employment,” aims to harness innovation and technology (I&T) to support people with disabilities (PWD) and promote inclusive employment opportunities. In collaboration with GreenTomato, a leading digital transformation consultancy and AI solutions provider, we delivered a job tasting […]

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Event
“Celebrating Traditional Wisdom Through Art” Exhibition – Can contemporary art bring new imaginations into centuries-old village traditions?

A new exhibition, “Celebrating Traditional Wisdom Through Art,” will be hosted at the iconic Fringe Club in Central this June. This unique exhibition showcases how sustainability, cultural heritage, and creative expression come together. Since late last year, our Centre has been working with a group of emerging artists where they embarked on an incubation journey […]

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Event
A Dialogue on Building Resilient Urban-Rural Partnerships

To kick off our conference and network launch event for the Network for the Study of Social-Ecological Systems (SES) Transformations, the Centre for Civil Society and Governance hosted a public dialogue on “Building Resilient Urban-Rural Partnerships.” We were very pleased to welcome network members from across the Asia-Pacific region, alongside practitioners, government representatives, and guests […]

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Event
Network for the Study of Social Ecological Systems (SES) Transformation – Network launch

The first conference and official launch of the Network for the Study of Social Ecological System (SES) Transformation will take place as a two-day event on 5–6 May 2026, organised by the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at The University of Hong Kong. The network brings together scholars working on social-ecological systems, governance, commons, […]

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Award and Achievement
Congratulations to Dr. Vivian Chu on the Early Career Teaching Award 2025

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Vivian Chu, Lecturer at the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, Faculty of Social Sciences and Programme Co-Director of Master of Social Sciences in Sustainability Leadership and Governance, has been awarded the Early Career Teaching Award at HKU’s Excellence Awards Presentation Ceremony. The award recognises her unwavering commitment […]

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Event
Empowering Inclusive Sports through Cross-Sector Collaboration: Brining VR Cycling into Rehabilitation Services

The Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) at HKU, through the “Jockey Club Collaborative Project for Inclusive Employment,” is dedicated to building cross-sector platforms that connect diverse stakeholders to realize the goals of inclusive employment and living. Recently, our project team partnered with local shared-cycling brand Locobike to host an inclusive cycling workshop at […]

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Event
Building a Vibrant Social Enterprise Ecosystem: Insights from the “ESG Social Contribution Award”

Recently, The Hong Kong General Chamber of Social Enterprises (HKGCSE) successfully organised the inaugural “ESG Social Contribution Award”, celebrating companies that have long supported social enterprises and fostering greater collaboration between the corporate and social sectors. As one of the panel speakers, Dr. Winnie Law, Deputy Director at the Centre for Civil Society and Governance […]

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Event
Searching for the Sustainability Purposes of Business—an Inspiring Case for the Textile and Apparel Industry

For decades, the textile and apparel industry has been associated with environmentally polluting practices and labour‑intensive production.These have flagged at many fronts of the sustainability agendas. Plenty of brands and companies have progressed and reduced social and environmental harms through innovation and technology. At Esquel, we saw the start of a paradigm shift towards sustainability […]

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Organization

2024-25 SLGP Scholars Nominated Meta & CCSG Scholarships

We are proud to announce that five outstanding Master of Social Sciences in Sustainability Leadership and Governance (SLG) students are graduating with the Facebook Scholarship in Public Policy and Sustainability Leadership and the Centre for Civil Society and Governance Scholarship (CCSG Scholarship) in recognition of their exceptional academic achievement. The 2024-25 scholarship nominees are: For Facebook Scholarship in Public Policy and Sustainability Leadership (Meta Scholarship): Lee Hoi Yan Jamie For The Centre for Civil Society and Governance Scholarship (CCSG Scholarship): LAI Pui Sze, Emily LI Yuen Ting Christine SENEVIRATHNE Heeleliyana Arachchige Udara TSE Kar Man Hiliary Both the Meta Scholarship and the CCSG Scholarship are awards that recognise students with exceptional results in the SLG Programme. These scholarships aim to nurture future leaders in sustainability, governance, and public policy. We congratulate all nominees on their remarkable accomplishments and wish them continued success in their academic and professional journeys. Our Centre will continue to support and nurture future leaders, empowering students to drive positive change in building a sustainable society for all. For more details about our scholarships and upcoming opportunities, please visit https://ccsg.hku.hk/slgp/.

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Organization

New Co-Directors for the Master of Social Sciences in Sustainability Leadership and Governance!

06:30 - 20:30

New Co-Directors for the Master of Social Sciences in Sustainability Leadership and Governance! We are thrilled to announce Dr Winnie Law and Dr Vivian Chu as the new Co-Directors of our Master of Social Sciences in Sustainability Leadership and Governance. Dr Winnie Law is the Deputy Director and Principal Lecturer at the Centre. Her expertise lies in community and stakeholder engagement, social impact assessment, sustainable urban regeneration and rural revitalisation. Dr Law contributes significantly to local and regional sustainability issues and integrating sustainability theories into practice through policy research and action projects. Dr Law has more than 20 years of teaching experience at territory education and served on various Hong Kong SAR Government advisory boards, as well as European Union and United Nations city planning and environmental management programmes. Dr Vivian Chu is a Lecturer at the Centre and has served as the Programme’s Deputy Director, with research interests in environmental policy, collaborative governance and sustainability. Dr Chu leads efforts in academic research on building sustainable communities, sustainable behaviour and policy tools, as well as sustainability assessment. Dr. Chu teaches a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the Centre on environmental policy and governance. Together, Dr Law and Dr Chu will spearhead the Programme, leading continuous enhancement of academic rigour under the fast-changing era of sustainability. They will work closely with the prestigious teaching team to uphold the best academic quality for students. The Centre wish to confer their gratitude to Dr Margaret Burnett for her co-ordination work during her tenure as Programme Director. The teaching team looks forward to continuing working with Dr. Burnett in the Capstone and other courses. Please join us in congratulating them on their new roles! About the Programme : Launched in 2003, our Master of Social Sciences in Sustainability Leadership and Governance equips future leaders with skills to tackle pressing sustainability challenges through innovative solutions. The Programme combines interdisciplinary coursework, hands-on projects, and industry partnerships to prepare graduates for impactful careers in sustainability.

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Organization

CCSG is now a TNFD Forum Member

We are pleased to announce that the Centre for Civil Society and Governance is now a member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum. With over 1,600 members from various sectors — including corporations, financial institutions, business associations, government bodies, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs and academia — TNFD drives a strong movement toward integrating nature-related issues into businesses’ and capital markets’ decision-making for nature-positive outcomes. We are pleased to be the first university in Hong Kong joining the Forum. Looking into the future, we aim to enhance our engagement with the Forum and other stakeholders as the Centre places more emphasis on spearheading discussions and collaborations on Nature-based Solutions (NbS). Together, we can make a meaningful impact in co-creating a resilient and sustainable future for all.

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Organization

George Chen appointed Honorary Senior Fellow

March 31, 2023 The Centre for Civil Society and Governance (“the Centre”) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) welcomes Mr. George Chen to join as an Honorary Senior Fellow of the Centre. As a practitioner–scholar, Mr. Chen brings his over two decades long professional experience in media, technology and policy to the Centre and the wider Faculty of Social Sciences. Mr. Chen, a Yale World Fellow appointed by Yale University in 2014, was the most senior policy representative based in Hong Kong, one of the two Asia Pacific hubs for Meta, previously known as Facebook, for more than seven years until most recently. Mr. Chen joined then Facebook in January 2016 to build the company’s regional policy operation from scratch out of its Hong Kong office. Later Mr. Chen became Meta’s first-ever Managing Director of Public Policy for Greater China, Mongolia, and Central Asia. At Meta, Mr. Chen also led the company’s supply chain related policy issues across the Asia Pacific region. During his time at Meta, Mr. Chen helped to launch the Tech for Good Initiative at the Centre in 2021, including the Meta-HKU Scholarship in Public Policy and Sustainability Leadership to support students of Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of Social Sciences in the field of Sustainability Leadership and Governance (MSocSc(SLG)) on the basis of academic merit. Prior to Meta, Mr. Chen served in various editorial and management positions for major media organisations in Hong Kong and Shanghai, including the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Reuters, and Dow Jones. Mr. Chen was the youngest Managing Editor appointed by the SCMP in its century-long history. He also had short stints for Reuters in New York, London, and Dubai. Mr. Chen has been on the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong since 2019. Mr. Chen was awarded the “Medal of Friendship” in 2022 – one of the highest honours for foreigners — by the order of the President of Mongolia for his long-time contributions to Mongolia’s IT industry development. Mr. Chen earned his Master of International and Public Affairs (with distinction) from the HKU, with concentration on US-China-Taiwan triangle relations. He’s been also working on his Doctor of Public Administration dissertation about misinformation and regulation at the HKU.

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Organization

Sustainable Solutions for Hong Kong’s Villages

Hong Kong is one of the world’s greatest cities. Less well-known is that there are also 600 villages in Hong Kong, mostly in the New Territories and outlying islands. Over the decades many have been abandoned or become rundown as villagers moved overseas and young people left to seek better jobs. One of the more established ones is Lai Chi Wo, a Hakka village in a remote valley in north-eastern New Territories, has still suffered from years of neglect after many villagers gave up farming and migrated to the UK in the 1950s. As part of an ongoing project through the Policy for Sustainability Lab under the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at the University of Hong Kong since 2013, a programme supported by HSBC, villagers are being encouraged to return to Lai Chi Wo to revitalise the village so that it will survive for future generations.

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