2021 International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN)
Miss Nicole Yanxi Guan, a student of the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Greater China Studies), has won the top prize at the 2021 International Public Policy Case Competition on Sustainable Development. Organized by Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Management, it is one of the prominent international academic competitions in the field of public policy.
The competition this year was highly competitive, with 147 students coming from reputable universities across China and the world, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, The London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Michigan.
Miss Guan formed a team with a student from New York University, and conducted a case study entitled “Sham Shui Po is the New Brooklyn: Could New Cultural Industry and the Original Community Coexist?” Having survived three rounds of intense competition that took place from June to August, Miss Guan’s team was highly praised by the jury and won a cash prize worth US$3,000. The team was mentored by Dr Fox Zhiyong Hu, Associate Professor of the Department of Asian and Policy Studies who provided excellent guidance and support.
The manuscript of Mr Md Hossain Farid, PhD Researcher at the Department of Asian and Policy Studies, entitled “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Pros and Cons for China’s Soft Power Projection” has been accepted for publication in Asian Politics & Policy (peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell) for the October 2021 issue. In this study, Farid assesses the effectiveness of China transforming its ‘pandemic health diplomacy’ into soft power. Beijing has launched a high-tempo program of pandemic diplomacy through good deeds, to create a positive image and strengthens China’s soft power in the future. China has taken the lead in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic through these initiatives. From the perspective of soft power theory, Farid clarified two assumptions: the coronavirus soft-power push of China is increased in developing regions heavily indebted to Beijing and where China has huge investment but shows a declining trend in Western European countries and the United States.
The Inaugural edition of the Canada-Hong Kong Public Affairs and Management International Summer School cum Policy Analysis Competition 2021 took place from August 16 to 23, 2021. It was co-organised by the Department of Asian and Policy Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) and the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan (USask).
Given the pandemic and difficulties in air travel, the Programme took place virtually, with speakers and students logging in from territories across the globe – Canada, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. The unique format of the Programme was cited by students as one of its major draws. The first five days were devoted to faculty-led sessions in the mornings, which introduced students to various facets of public affairs and public management in different sectors around the world. These were complemented by tutorials and student cafés in the afternoon that focussed on policy analysis activities. The morning sessions featured academic faculty from EdUHK, USask, University of Regina, and Simon Fraser University as well as invited guests that were current and former public service practitioners. By adopting varied formats, including seminars, workshops, a movie screening and case studies; students gained insight and developed skills to understand real-world issues on a range of topics spanning – health, climate change, policy analysis, refugee issues, urban governance, eco-tourism, human resources management, data use; to name a few.
These sessions served as preparatory ground for the Policy Analysis Competition, which marked the culmination of the Programme. Teams were tasked with choosing a territory or country for which they had to define a pressing problem(s) with respect to COVID-19, diagnose its causes, evaluate the government response and make policy recommendations. Teams had the next 48-hours to organise themselves, choose their respective cases, undertake relevant research and prepare a presentation. The two teams winning the first prize and the first runner-up focussed, respectively, on Japan’s struggles in balancing economic recovery with curbing COVID-19 transmission and the issue of migrants in India during the pandemic-induced lockdown. The Programme received a very positive response. In their feedback, students appreciated it for the high level of professional organisation and for the introductory primer it provided on different policy topics. Other participants remarked upon the exceptional degree of international interaction and the excellent speakers. Most encouraging were the words of a student that noted the Programme ‘stimulated autonomy while guiding students to learn to incisively analyse public policy’.
近日，香港特別行政區政府公佈2021學年特區政府獎學金的獲獎名單。香港教育大學亞洲及政策研究學系博士生鄧鳳怡（Vivien）同學榮獲「一帶一路」獎學金，總額為港幣 168,400 元。此獎學金表彰鄧鳳怡同學的卓越成績，亦是對她社會服務的充分認可。 香港特區政府於2008年成立 10 億港元的政府獎學基金，旨在表揚本地與非本地學生的傑出表現，吸引更多優秀本地學生留港升學和更多出色的非本地學生來港就學。為加強與「一帶一路」沿線國家的教育合作，吸引更多傑出的非本地學生來港升學，香港特區政府於2016/17學年起增設「一帶一路獎學金」，授予來自「一帶一路」沿線地區的學生。
鄧鳳怡（Vivien）同學是一名土生土長的新加坡人，為亞洲及政策研究學系公共政策與管理專業的碩士畢業生，現正在導師和經緯副教授的指導下攻讀博士學位。她的職業生涯十分豐富，本科畢業於美國布法羅大學（University at Buffalo）心理學專業，憑藉優異的成績在凱尼休斯學院（Canisius College）取得第一個碩士學位。畢業之後，她回到新加坡從事七年的專業社工服務。爾後毅然決定重返校園，負笈香江，來到香港教育大學求學。她曾與經緯副教授合作，在著名國際學術期刊Health Policy發表學術論文。論文總結了亞洲四個經濟體在面對人口快速老化時進行醫療服務體系整合的實踐，全文請https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851021000075。
5月24日，香港特別行政區大學教育資助委員會（教資會, UGC）正式公佈了2020年大學研究評審(Research Assessment Exercise, RAE)結果。研究評審工作是教資會評核各公立大學表現的重要一環，旨在推動學者進行世界級研究，並追求卓越。評審工作對標國際頂尖大學，評估香港高校在各個領域的研究質素及其相對優勢。參考先進國家大學研究評審的經驗，2020年的評審中首次加入了學者研究影響力(research impact)評估，旨在評價自然科學和社會科學學者將學術研究應用於實踐、並增進社會福祉的能力。評審專家委員會由世界頂尖大學學者與本港著名學者組成。
在政治學、公共政策、公共行政和國際關係學科門類中，包括香港大學、香港中文大學、香港科技大學在內的全部八所公立大學均提交了學者研究影響力報告，其中只有兩項研究影響力評估獲全部評審專家一致評分為四星，即卓越(outstanding)，兩位學者均來自香港教育大學亞洲及政策研究學系，分別為協理副校長（研究）周基利教授及副系主任（研究與發展）和經緯副教授。兩位學者在全港公立大學該領域眾多優秀學者中脫穎而出，證明了教大公共政策學者在科學研究及推動社會變革、政策創新方面的傑出表現。
周基利教授是國際知名的社會政策和老年學專家，其學術引用率常年高居社會科學文獻索引系統(SSCI)全球前1%。周教授的公共政策研究積極服務與香港社會福利政策改革，為政府改善民生建言獻策。他關於香港社會扶貧和收入保障問題的眾多研究成果在特區政府政策規劃中起到了重要作用，也被眾多國際組織和NGO引用。他所倡導的很多社會福利改革現在已經變成現實，從中受益的社會弱勢群體數以百萬計。周教授熱心政策倡導，透過新聞媒體廣泛呼籲廣大市民正確規劃退休保障，摒棄對貧窮人口的偏見，體現了一位傑出社會政策學者的人文關懷與社會責任。
和經緯副教授長期從事醫療衛生政策與社會福利改革方面的研究，他的研究範圍涵蓋中國大陸、香港以及東亞其他地區。他的公共政策研究不僅以傳統學術出版物形式呈現，更積極透過公眾倡導及政策諮詢等多種方式產生廣泛的影響力。在2016年世界銀行、世界衛生組織及中央三部委的權威醫改研究報告中，和博士多達六篇研究成果被引用，成為被引用最多的國際學者之一。2014年，當香港特區政府推動醫療籌資改革時，和博士的政策研究也為自願醫保改革提供了有價值的政策建議。他熱心參加政策倡導，多次接受中國國際廣播電台、亞洲衛視、鳳凰衛視、美國哥倫比亞廣播公司、RTHK等廣播電視頻道的採訪，並在中國大陸、香港、新加坡、歐洲等主流報章發表政策見解。
On 17 May 2021, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive hosted a reception at the Hong Kong Science Park to honour awardees of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2021 Special Edition, which according to the Swiss Consul of Hong Kong had attracted over 600 entries. Professor Woo Chi-Keung attended the reception as one of the two gold medal winners from the EdUHK for his Online Assessment System for Individual Scores (OASIS) that implements a transparent mechanism for scoring individual contributions to a team project’s completion. Using team members’ peer assessment data to compute performance-based scores, OASIS discourages free riding before project commencement and punishes free riders upon project completion. Adopted by 28 teachers across 9 universities in the U.S and Asia, OASIS has improved team-based learning of ~1,800 students enrolled in 23 diverse courses.
