Surveying the social innovation and higher education landscape in Hong Kong

‘Surveying the social innovation and higher education landscape in Hong Kong’ is a key report commissioned as part of the British Council’s Building Research Innovation for Community Knowledge and Sustainability (BRICKS) project. The objective of the BRICKS project, which is funded by the Hong Kong government’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund), is to build capacity and foster collaboration on social innovation between HEIs, NGOs, social enterprises and other organisations
working at the frontline of public service delivery in Hong Kong. This research directly relates to this aim, by seeking to explore the barriers and enablers of collaboration to achieve social innovation primarily within/between HEIs in Hong Kong, but also
with NGOs and other stakeholders. The research, therefore, explores the following aim and sub-aims: Research Aim: to understand the knowledge, capacity and future ambitions of the Hong Kong academic community in relation to SI. How is this shaped by barriers and enablers at the following three levels?
• Systemic level: cultural norms, traditions and incentive structures that mediate inter-HEI collaboration.
• Institutional level: behaviours and attitudes of faculty and staff in HEIs towards collaboration.
• Practice-level: frontline knowledge of how to collaborate in the delivery of social innovation initiatives.
The research adopts a sequential mixed-method research approach to data collection, comprising five stages: an in-depth literature review, an online survey, semi-structured interviews, ecosystem mapping and data triangulation. The study is of particular importance, given that, to date, there is no baseline data in relation to social innovation in Hong Kong’s higher education sector.