{"id":33379,"date":"2025-09-03T12:52:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/?post_type=school_news&#038;p=33379"},"modified":"2025-09-03T16:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:53:13","slug":"global-bay-areas-impact-lab-cultivating-social-innovation-across-the-gba-tokyo-bay-and-san-francisco-bay","status":"publish","type":"school_news","link":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/school_news\/global-bay-areas-impact-lab-cultivating-social-innovation-across-the-gba-tokyo-bay-and-san-francisco-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Bay Areas Impact Lab: Cultivating Social Innovation Across the GBA, Tokyo Bay, and San Francisco Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Launched in Summer 2024, the <strong>Global Bay Areas Impact Lab<\/strong> is a new Social Innovation and Global Citizenship (SIGC) experiential programme that connects HKU Social Sciences undergraduates with vibrant social innovation ecosystems across the Greater Bay Area (GBA), Tokyo Bay, and San Francisco Bay. Over an intensive eight weeks, students explore how diverse cultural, economic, and policy contexts influence responses to shared challenges \u2013 ranging from sustainable urban development to equitable community design \u2013 and how social innovation can inspire and scale positive change.<\/p>\n<p>This summer, the Lab brought together its second cohort on an exciting journey that combined seminars, project-based internships, and cross-cultural exchanges. \u00a0The programme began with an orientation week at HKU and Sun Yat-sen University to ground students in GBA development and practical social innovation tools, followed by five-week placements with leading foundations, social enterprises, and corporate partners across the GBA. Working alongside our community partners, students delivered a spectrum of projects with authentic impact, including designing community programmes, creating impact stories, and visualizing system trends through data.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33384 \" src=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692.jpeg 1008w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-960x718.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-640x479.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-480x359.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-384x287.jpeg 384w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2692-320x239.jpeg 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33383\" src=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/11778955.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/11778955.jpg 1125w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/11778955-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/11778955-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/11778955-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Building on their GBA insights and experiences, students then joined Waseda University for a one-week Tokyo Bay field trip to explore Japan\u2019s social innovation pathways from grassroots to policy. They further engaged in virtual seminars with scholars from San Francisco Bay to examine evolving perspectives and critically reflect on the field&#8217;s future. The experience culminated in a Social Innovation Hackathon, where teams synthesized learning from all three regions into contextualized solutions for Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33380\" src=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392.jpeg 1008w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-960x718.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-640x479.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-480x359.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-384x287.jpeg 384w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3392-320x239.jpeg 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33381\" src=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699.jpeg 1008w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-960x718.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-640x479.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-480x359.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-384x287.jpeg 384w, https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_3699-320x239.jpeg 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Reflecting on their journeys, students recognize that positive social transformation begins with the individual, and that remarkable progress is built from the accumulation of small changes. The Lab will continue to inspire students to act with passion and purpose in the GBA and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","school_new_categories":[781],"school_news_tag":[],"thought_leadership_category":[],"department_category":[],"class_list":["post-33379","school_news","type-school_news","status-publish","hentry","school_new_categories-teaching-learning"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school_news\/33379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/school_news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"school_new_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school_new_categories?post=33379"},{"taxonomy":"school_news_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school_news_tag?post=33379"},{"taxonomy":"thought_leadership_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thought_leadership_category?post=33379"},{"taxonomy":"department_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.socsc.hku.hk\/tc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department_category?post=33379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}