25 February 2021
The HSUHK Social Innovation Competition 2021 (“the Competition”) reached a new height, with its Pitching Competition and Awards Presentation Ceremony successfully completed on 25 February. Marching into its 6th year, the Competition aims at enhancing student learning experience academically and experientially, and is especially devoted to stimulating our students’ innovativeness.
The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) this year was proudly joined by the Institute for Youth Sustainability Leadership (IYSL) and the Wu Jieh Yee Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (WUCIE) in this endeavor. Themed upon the three chosen Sustainable Development Goals specified by the United Nations , namely SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) , the Competition enlightened a thousand students on innovative ways to sustain and develop our city.
The Competition also included four themed-based talks in November 2020 which were well-attended by over 900 students and staff. In addition, in February 2021, the Research and Learning Support Team of the University’s Library introduced a resource guide especially devoted to the Competition to over 200 students. Two workshops on proposal writing and idea pitching skills were also held in the same month, with Mrs Vannessa Misso-Veness as guest speaker. They were well-attended by over 300 students and staff. Through these activities and initiatives, all students took home valuable insights on the development of SDGs 3, 11 and 12, the essence of social innovation, library research techniques, proposal writing and idea pitching skills.
A total of 31 students in the 12 shortlisted teams worked for the well-being of sustainable development. They all achieved great achievements during the Competition period, from writing a concrete proposal to shining on our online stage in their three-minute pitch. Before the final results were announced, all of the participating students and online audience gained profound insights from Mr Douglas Cheng, Project Manager of Innovator Farm Program, about how to take their proposals to the next step to implement and sustain them.
Congratulations to all participants for their superb performance! The winning teams can further proceed to the HSUHK x SCMP Entrepreneurship Challenge 2021, organised by WUCIE, and other inter-university social innovation competitions where exchange of ideas, generous seed funds and incubation trainings are up for grabs, turning their proposals into reality.
Awardees of the Competition are as follows:
| Prize | Project Title (Team Name; SDGs) | Team Members |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | RECYCLOTH: A solution to Hong Kong’s exceed clothing waste by a new business model and awakening people’s love for old garments (Team Recycloth; SDG 12) | Rokey YANG Ruo-jun (BBA- Marketing, Year 2) Brooklyn PENG Wen-shuang (BBA- Finance and Banking, Year 2) Harvey WONG King-hung (BBA-Professional Accountancy, Year 2) |
| 1st Runner-up | Puzzle House – Combining the Ignored People and Discarded Vacant Land Be Ideal Society (Team Puzzle House; SDG 11) | CHUI Pui-yan (BBA- Management, Year 3) CHAN Yan-tung (BBA- Human Resource Management, Year 3) |
| 2nd Runner-up | Silence (Team Deadline Fighter, SDG 3) | Carly LEE Sze-kwan (BBA-Marketing, Year 4) Janet CHOI Hong-kiu (BJC- Journalism and Communication, Year 4) Vanessa YUEN Chung-yi (BBA- Marketing, Year 3) |
| Honourable Mentions (Relevance & Impact) | Puzzle House – Combining the Ignored People and Discarded Vacant Land Be Ideal Society (Team Puzzle House; SDG 11) | CHUI Pui-yan (BBA- Management, Year 3) CHAN Yan-tung (BBA- Human Resource Management, Year 3) |
| Honourable Mentions (Proposal Write-up) | The Beacon Light Project 陽光計劃 (Team Dawning; SDG 3) | Stella YAP Shu-lin (BBA-Corporate Governance and Compliance, Year 2) Lauren LIN Wenjia (BBA-Financial Analysis, Year 2) |
| Honourable Mentions (Presentation) | RECYCLOTH: A solution to Hong Kong’s exceed clothing waste by a new business model and awakening people’s love for old garments (Team Recycloth; SDG 12) | Rokey YANG Ruo-jun (BBA- Marketing, Year 2) Brooklyn PENG Wen-shuang (BBA- Finance and Banking, Year 2) Harvey WONG King-hung (BBA- Professional Accountancy, Year 2) |
