CSDS Workshop

The Centre for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) of the HKBU School of Business co-organised the Knowledge Exchange Workshop on fighting poverty and sustainable development on 1 June 2023. Participants from the community and financial institutions gathered to share experiences and best practices around the topic to raise awareness and inspire future actions.

Themed “Sustainable Development: From University to Community”, the highly interactive workshop presented a platform for academia and community partners, including NGOs, non-profit organisations, social enterprises and schools, to discuss how the higher education sector could contribute to the poverty issue and society’s sustainable development as a whole.

Dr. Aries Wong, Associate Director of CSDS, thanked the enthusiastic participants for their generous sharing. “With the key takeaways from the Workshop, we will be able to follow up and partner with different organisations with rigorous evaluation on poverty alleviation measures, translating insights into actions and impacts for sustainable development.”

At the same time, community partners highlighted the challenges they have faced in their community projects, providing insights into how academic institutions could play a role in poverty alleviation measures, and how a successful collaboration with other parties look like. Miss Kit Ko, a representative from YWCA, shared a successful service-learning project collaborated with students from the HKBU School of Business, helping young mothers develop their own business in selling pre-owned clothes.

The Workshop also offers a networking occasion to bridge up community partners with business sectors for potential project collaborations. Established in July 2022, the CSDS aims to conduct research and organise knowledge transfer activities related to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. It focuses on how institutions, policies and practices affect the achievement of the selected SDGs in global and local contexts. Poverty, inequality and mobility is one of the key areas the CSDS focus on, along with climate policy, clean energy and environmental protection.