Events

Beyond Volunteering: Equipping YOUth for Social Action

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Date:

12 Nov 2016

Time:

10.00am – 4.00pm

Venue:

LT2, Esther Lee Building, CUHK Main Campus

Speaker(s):

Prof Tony Nelson, Representative, Sustainable Development Goals Steering Committee;Samar Shaheryar, Co-Founder, Baby Hero;May Wong, Associate Director, Asian Charity Services;James Boon Munroe, Founder, Elephant Branded;Cindy Chan Pik Ying, Director, I.Care Centre for Whole-person Development;Janet Chu, Director of Global Volunteers, AIESEC in Hong Kong;Dr Joyce Ching, Health Technical Specialist, World Vision Hong Kong;Judy Ho, International Ministry Officer, World Vision Hong Kong;Sharon Lo, Regional Focal Point (N&SE Asia), UN Major Group for Children and Youth;Hideaki Tonoaki, Policy Manager, Japan Youth Platform for Sustainability;Prof Fok Tai Fai, CUHK Pro-Vice Chancellor

Admission:

Free

Synopsis of Lecture:

An increasing sense of civic commitment and social responsibility has led to a steady rise in engagement in volunteering activities amongst Hong Kong students. Although such effort is commendable, the reality is that good intentions can often lead to unintended and even harmful consequences. This is particularly the case when considering the nature of short-term overseas service trips, which do more to provide students with life experiences in developing countries, instead of actually helping the local population. Meanwhile, student- initiated social action initiatives (local and abroad) can often offer simplistic solutions which do not necessarily address the needs of their target populations; they also tend to work alone instead of in partnership with experienced NGOs, and operate using unsustainable models. To highlight some of these criticisms and challenge students to think beyond existing volunteering paradigms, the CUHK Centre for Global Health and Office of Student Affairs will run this full-day workshop as the finale event of 2016 for the CGH Sustainable Development Goals Series. Entitled “Beyond Volunteering: Equipping YOUth for Social Action”, the aim of the workshop will be to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to run effective and strategic social action programmes which generate meaningful change. Individuals and organisations pioneering alternative and innovative approaches will contribute their experiences and insight through a keynote speech, panel discussion and afternoon skill-training breakout sessions. Overall, it is hoped that this workshop will provide a space to challenge students to consider how they can use their time, resources and skills in a wise manner, to develop innovative initiatives which address social problems in a strategic and meaningful manner.