KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

Knowledge Exchange Awards 2017

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Results of the 2017 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

HKU Sustainable Lai Chi Wo Programme selected the first HK case to illustrate best local nature-based solutions to sustainable development

The Equator Initiative of the United Nations Development Programme selected the Sustainable Lai Chi Wo programme, led by the Policy for Sustainability Lab of the HKU Faculty of Social Sciences, as the first and the only selected case from Hong Kong for inclusion in its Solutions Database to showcase the best nature-based solution to sustainable development undertaken by local communities around the globe. HKU President Professor Peter Mathieson announced the news at the International Symposium of Collaborative Governance for Rural Sustainability held at HKU. In addition, HSBC has pledged to support the next phase of the programme which seeks to turn Lai Chi Wo into an innovation hub to demonstrate and incubate new concepts of sustainable living and social-economic models that can be replicated locally and regionally.

HKU survey reveals gaming addiction problem among Hong Kong upper primary students

The Social and Health Psychology Laboratory of the HKU Department of Psychology conducted a "Survey on the Gaming Habits among Hong Kong Upper Primary students" from March to May in 2017. A total of 2,006 Primary 4 to 6 students were surveyed. Results reveal that the problem of gaming addiction is prevalent among the students. The research team is concerned about the needs of children and parents, and so they built a Game Over Programme (GOP) website to provide information and downloadable resources for the prevention of gaming addiction. The website was kick-started on June 20 to provide background information about the project and will be fully launched in early August.

HKU launches first-of-its-kind Water Footprint Calculator to raise water conservation awareness

The "Jockey Club Water Initiative on Sustainability and Engagement," initiated by the Faculty of Social Sciences, with a donation of over HK$14.7 million by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, launched the first-of-its-kind Water Footprint Calculator mobile app, focusing on food and daily dining habits. This innovative and engaging tool, integrated with evidence-based scientific data, could raise public awareness of the importance of heeding water conservation and integrate the concept of water sustainability into our daily life, subsequently leading to a change in attitudes and behaviour in favour of water conservation. The first phase of the Water Footprint Calculator covers more than 90 local popular dishes, snacks, and drinks. Through the mobile app, the public can calculate the water footprint of their choices of daily meals, either by eatery type (such as Chinese restaurant or Hong Kong-style restaurant) or by food category (such as rice/noodles or dim sum), and understand the total amount of freshwater needed to produce the ingredients of those dishes.

Ocean Park, CHSC and HKU hold Happy Kids • Bountiful Life Award Scheme 2017

Ocean Park hosted a presentation for the Happy Kids · Bountiful Life Award Scheme 2017, organised in collaboration the Committee on Home-School Co-operation (CHSC) and HKU Department of Social Work and Social Administration for the third consecutive year. The theme this year was to encourage students to develop a positive attitude and appreciate the happy moments in life. Since the launch of the Happy Kids · Bountiful Life Award Scheme 2017 in mid-March this year, over 6,700 students have received awards. Participating students were required to record every happy moment and something they are grateful for each day in a journal and each school then selected and rewarded 15 students who exhibited the most positivity. Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration said the number of student suicides remained alarmingly high. This year’s Happy Kids · Bountiful Life Award Scheme helped strengthen students’ mental health and prevent youth suicides.

HKU and NGOs organise the first psychosocial intervention programme for children with eczema and parents

Eczema is the most common paediatric skin disease prevalent in around 30% of Hong Kong children. The HKU Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the Boys' & Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation will jointly offer the territory's first non-pharmaceutical intervention training programme for children with eczema and their parents, so as to enhance the holistic well-being of the parents and the self-esteem, emotional coping and resilience of children in dealing with the disease, as well as facilitate better parent-child relationship in spite of their eczema experience. In a pilot study conducted in 2016 with 27 pairs of parent-child dyad, the results revealed significant improvement in the parents’ psychological and spiritual well-being after the group intervention.

HKU Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention announces Hong Kong Altruism Index and launches mobile application to promote altruistic acts

The HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention conducted a survey on altruism in late 2016. A total of 3,016 Hong Kong citizens were randomly recruited in the study on their altruistic behaviours and well-being status. According to statistical analysis, the well-being of people in Hong Kong is positively associated with the overall altruism scores, monetary donation, blood and organ donations and informal help. A mobile app "Helppiness" was also launched to provide information on helping opportunities including volunteering work, Flag Day donation, blood donation, and daily acts of kindness. Users can search and record a wide range of helping opportunities using the app. They can also upload information to promote informal helping in society.