The Centre for Social Innovation Studies (CSIS), Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong was established in 2008 as the Centre for Civil Society Studies. The Centre is renamed as CSIS in 2015 responding to the evolving trend in civil society studies. The centre aims at promoting research, knowledge transfer and exchange between practitioners and academics in the field of social innovation.
Our recent projects include Sustainability Education, Transform Social Relations through Art and Humanities, Plastics and waste reduction, Fair-work, Precarious labour in Hong Kong, and Community building through Social Innovation. With the framework of action research, we make good use of our advantage to bridge up stakeholders in various social issues and our students, to engage CUHK students to participate in our research project and also innovate their minds through research activities.
Responding to the Climate Crisis, CSIS advocate the importance of engaging different stakeholders to participate in the discussion on innovative ideas for sustainable development. The most recent research project at CSIS — “ECF: Plastic-free Hong Kong” — aims to investigate the plastic bag consumption under wet market culture in Hong Kong, to engage university and secondary school students to take part in our research project and training, to interact with retailers and consumers, and also to promote the plastic-free message to the community. CSIS organised a public exhibition “Plastic Reduction Academy: No Plastic Bags, Please!”, to communicate the research output and also transfer knowledge to the public. Also, with the emerging discussion on the Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme and plastic problem, we organised field work and screening sessions in our project “Plastic-free together: Beach Clean-up Workshop X Design Thinking Training X Cross-cultural Environmental Screening“, to open up environmental communication with migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, also recognise the green effort made by the workers.
With the Centre’s focus on interdisciplinary exchange, its Executive Committee members include leading scholars in Social work, Journalism, Gender studies and Cultural studies.
The centre operates as part of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies.
Chinese