Research

Urban commons have been facing a decline in many cities, with their degradation being considered a social, environmental and economic loss. The practice of commoning, the collective use and management of the commons, is positioned as a response to such situations, bringing both individual and collective benefits. Under the study of urban commons, the interest in voluntary initiatives of citizens collaborating to enact positive social change at local, national, and global scales is on the rise. The area of research investigates how urban commons and commoning, civic associations and NGO governance in Asia may contribute to the attainment of a more sustainable and healthy society.

• Urban commons and commoning in Asia (Professor Wai-Fung LAM* and Dr. Jessica WILLIAMS)

While many of the understandings and scholarly insights into commoning were developed in the West, there is increasing interest in the Asian context.  In particular, this research explores how the different historical, cultural and governance context found in Asia influences urban and peri-urban commoning initiatives to enrich and supplement understanding. To this end, this research is drawing on a range of case studies and experiences to build understandings of commoning in the Hong Kong context and the wider region.  More specifically, investigation is being conducted into breaking down to better understand the enabling conditions for commoning as well as their design principles and attributes.

• Civic associations (Ms. Joyce CHOW, Professor Wai-Fung LAM, Dr. Winnie LAW and Dr. Emily PAN*)

Civic associations represent a prominent form of citizen-driven collaborative and voluntary initiatives, featuring voluntary participation, self-governance and addressing community and public concerns. Prior research on civic associations has demonstrated their significant role in civil society and their importance in shaping the communities they serve. Despite their importance and distinctive organizational characteristics, we know little about the emergence and development paths of civic associational activities and why some civic associations perform better than others. In this stream of study, we intend to explore these puzzles by applying different theoretical perspectives to the case of ethnic minority civic associational activities in Hong Kong.

• NGO governance (Dr. Elaine CHAN* and Professor Wai-Fung LAM)

NGOs are accountable to their stakeholders, however manifold they are. Upwardly, there are funders, supporters, and regulators; downwardly, members, beneficiaries, and clients; externally, partners, media, society as a whole, and organizations in a similar field; and internally, staff, volunteers, and meeting missions. Thus, NGO management and development is about seizing opportunities, sensing snags, and balancing interests. In addition, although the NGO board does not manage the organization, it governs and provides steering and stewardship. Among its many functions is to ensure and enable accountability, including compliance with policies and regulations. Our research in this area examines the health of NGO governance and investigates the relationship between the government and the third sector and how NGOs embrace the change and meet the challenges.  

The World Bank defines social inclusion as “the process of improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of people, disadvantaged on the basis of their identity, to take part in society.”  It is a critical part of a sustainable society where all members are meaningfully engaged, irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnic background, and ability:

• Inclusive employment for PWD (Dr. Elaine CHAN* and Professor Wai-Fung LAM)

Hong Kong society often sees people with disabilities (PWD) as underdogs and emphasizes their disabilities while overlooking their abilities, hence, higher unemployment and underemployment rates than the general population. We recognize that having a job is important to the PWD as it brings not only income but enables the PWD to contribute and participate in society. However, social inclusion is more than giving people a job; it is also about opportunity and dignity. This research focuses on inclusive employment of PWD with special attention given to four dimensions. First, to identify policy and service gaps that may hamper PWD-inclusive employment. Second, to track society’s PWD-inclusive attitudes. Third, the business community’s attitudes to and readiness for PWD-inclusive employment. Last, to determine if collaborative efforts of NGOs are more effective in promoting inclusive employment than individual efforts.

Across the world, rural and peri-urban areas are facing social, economic and ecological decline due to pressures of urbanisation and globalisation, which governments are struggling to address. Change and transition are necessary for the attainment of sustainability. This area of research focuses on the study of transition models and the new and enhanced role of change agents:

• Niche experiments for sustainability transition (Dr. Winnie LAW, Dr. Emily PAN* and Dr. Jessica WILLIAMS)

Experimentation is considered a promising way to seed change that may induce a fundamental transformation of a system. The peri-urban interface, as a convergence point for multiple social-technical-ecological systems, concentrates complex and persistent issues across the rural-urban continuum while also presenting opportunities to address these interlocking challenges through the development of strategic niches. This research focuses on two aspects regarding the dynamics of niche development: first, exploring the relationship between experiments and niche development; and second, examining the niche-regime interaction within the water-food-energy nexus, where multiple regimes are involved.

• The role of universities in social innovation ecosystem (Professor Wai-Fung LAM, Dr. Winnie LAW and Dr. Jessica WILLIAMS*)

Social entrepreneurship (SE) is increasingly seen as an attractive alternative.  SEs are part of a larger social innovation ecosystem, composed of an array of actors, resources and support services. These ecosystems, however, do not always provide SEs with the appropriate tools or support to effect change, with SEs often struggling from a lack of funding, network access and human resources. Attention is being paid to the role of universities and how they can take a more proactive and engaged role in their communities.  Investigation is undertaken into how a university can enhance the necessary conditions for social innovation, providing the broader structural framework to enable SEs, and more specifically, how they can act to directly incubate and support SEs in providing rural revitalisation solutions.   

• GOGREEN (Dr. Vivian CHU and Professor Wai-Fung LAM*)

The GOGREEN project is a global comparative study led by Roskilde University that explores the conditions for successful co-creation of green transitions that enhance sustainability.  The focus of the study is on the institutional and organisational designs, the forms of governance and leadership that condition the co-creation of innovative green solutions as the outcome, which will also be evaluated.  As part of the global comparative study, the Hong Kong case study seeks to identify and evaluate the importance of a set of governance factors, such as strategies for inclusive and empowered participation and the ability to leverage government support, as conditions for the successful co-creation of the green solution that is the collaborative approach to revitalising rural areas in Hong Kong.

Publication: Socio-economic inequalities in climate policies: unpacking energy efficiency barriers in low-income households