Headline Stage Sponsor
HONG KONG’S BEST ATTENDED AND MOST AMBITIOUS BUSINESS EVENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT #OnlyWayForward

Change Makers Stage

Change Makers Stage

Headline Stage Sponsor

Day 1 – Thursday 12 Sept

 

There is a tremendous desire among our young people to leverage their talents and work with businesses to design and scale creative solutions to social issues. How can we best translate this passion into innovations for a positive impact in Hong Kong?

The Social Innovators of Tomorrow programme will engage budding social entrepreneurs in Hong Kong to discuss the imperative of sustainability within the context of inclusive business models, inherent business opportunities for social impact, as well as the alignment of career and skillset development within this emerging space.

In partnership with

Supported by

11:00 – 11:05

Opening Welcome: Social Innovators of Tomorrow

11:00 – 11:05

11:15 – 12:05

From Theory to Practice: Experiential Learning for Social Impact

11:15 – 12:05

This session highlights the importance of experiential learning, such as community projects and social enterprise internships, in giving students real-world experience in creating social impact.

Learnings

  • Importance of Experiential Learning
    • Why is experiential learning important for creating social impact?How can community projects and social enterprise internships provide real-world experience to students?
  • Benefits for Students
    • What are the key benefits of experiential learning for students aiming to make a social impact? How does experiential learning enhance a student’s understanding of social issues and solutions?
  • Implementation Challenges
    • What challenges do educational institutions face in implementing experiential learning programs?How can these challenges be overcome to ensure students gain meaningful experience?
  • Role of Educators and Organizations
    • What role do educators and organizations play in facilitating experiential learning for social impact?How can they collaborate to provide impactful learning experiences for students?

Post-event Actions

  • With growing expectations for industries to focus on social impact, what upcoming career opportunities does your organization offer?
  • How can we support and empower young people and professionals in this field?

Supported by

12:05 – 12:55

Synergizing Futures: Mutual Growth Through Young Professional Engagement in NGOs and SEs

12:05 – 12:55

This session explores strategies and initiatives that NGOs and Social Enterprises (SEs) can implement to attract, train, and empower young professionals and professionals-to-be. It also highlights how these organizations can leverage the unique skills, enthusiasm, and innovative perspectives of young talent to drive their vision and mission, fostering a new generation of impact-driven leaders.

Learnings

  • Bridging the Gap: From Education to Action
    • How can educational institutions collaborate with NGOs/SEs to offer experiential learning opportunities in social impact fields?
    • What opportunities exist for students to engage in meaningful action and social impact projects during their academic studies?
  • Cultivating Competencies: Enhancing Skills for Social Impact
    • How can NGOs and SEs foster a sense of belonging and inclusion among young professionals to enhance both individual satisfaction and organizational loyalty?
    • How can the dynamic exchange between young professionals and NGOs/SEs lead to the creation of innovative solutions and approaches to addressing social challenges?
  • Navigating Challenges: Aligning Aspirations with Organizational Goals
    • What challenges do NGOs and SEs face in aligning their organizational goals with the aspirations of young professionals, and how can these challenges be overcome?

Post-event Actions

  • Explore how your company and industry can partner with social entrepreneurship initiatives and NGOs by engaging young professionals.

Supported by

13:55 – 14:45

The Catalysts of Change: Empowering Young Professionals to Drive Organizational Social Impact

13:55 – 14:45

This session examines the unique position and potential of young professionals in driving social impact within their organizations and beyond their job functions.aders.

Learnings

  • Influence and Potential
    • How can young professionals spearhead social impact initiatives within their organizations? What capacity do young professionals have to drive social change and innovation?
  • Current Landscape
    • What is the current state of young professional engagement in organizational social impact initiatives? How are organizations currently leveraging the talents of young professionals for social impact?
  • Barriers to Engagement
    • What are the main barriers young professionals face in contributing to social impact, and how can they be overcome? How can organizations help young professionals overcome these barriers to engagement in social impact initiatives?
  • Organizational Support
    • How can organizations create environments that support and amplify the social impact efforts of young professionals? What strategies can organizations implement to foster a culture of social impact among young professionals?

Post-event Actions

  • Review current engagement levels of young professionals in social impact within your organization and identify areas for enhancement.

Supported by

14:45 – 15:35

Bridging Philanthropy and Youth Empowerment for Climate Justice: Unlocking Impact Through Collaboration

14:45 – 15:35

This panel discussion aims to facilitate dialogue and collaboration among philanthropists, youth-focused NGOs, and young innovators. Youth have already reshaped the narrative and momentum surrounding the climate crisis, making it crucial to provide increased support for young innovators. While philanthropy plays a pivotal role in driving social change, climate action currently receives a mere 2 percent of funding. By exploring ways to build partnerships and foster collaboration, the panel aims to amplify the impact of youth-driven initiatives and contribute to a just transition towards a climate-just city.

Learnings

1) How can youth be effectively empowered and engaged as active participants in addressing social and environmental challenges?

2) How can philanthropy increase support and resources for youth-led projects and innovative solutions, particularly in the context of climate action?

3) What strategies can be employed to foster effective collaboration and partnerships among philanthropists, youth-focused NGOs, and young innovators?

4) How can successful youth-led innovations be scaled up and replicated to create broader social and environmental change?

5) What are the key policy advocacy and systems change approaches needed to create an enabling environment for youth empowerment and drive transformative change?

Post-event Actions

1) Gain a deeper understanding of the role that youth play in addressing social and environmental challenges, particularly in the context of the climate crisis.

2) Have the opportunity to engage in dialogue and collaboration with philanthropists, youth-focused NGOs, and young innovators.

3) Get to know how to effectively communicate, build partnerships, and leverage collective resources to amplify the impact of youth initiatives.

4) Be Inspired and motivated by young innovators to take action in their own spheres of influence

5)Be committed to support youth empowerment and address climate challenges.

Supported by

15:45 – 16:35

Social Innovators of Tomorrow: Session Details Coming Soon

15:45 – 16:35

16:35 – 17:25

Partnerships for Good: Connecting Education, Business, and Change Makers

16:35 – 17:25

This session explores the collaboration between educators, businesses, and social innovators, including examples of social projects.

Learnings

  • Examples of Social Projects
    • Can you provide examples of social projects that have emerged from collaborations between education, business, and social innovators?
    • What impact have these projects had on their respective communities or sectors?
  • Overcoming Collaboration Challenges
    • What challenges are commonly faced when attempting to collaborate across these sectors?
    • How do different sectors address the issue of varying objectives and cultures in collaborative projects?
  • The Future of Cross-Sector Partnerships
    • What future trends are anticipated in the collaboration between education, business, and social innovators?

Post-event Actions

  • To commit to long-term goals that require ongoing collaboration across sectors. Facilitate the development of action plans that embody a mindset geared towards sustainability and long-lasting social impact.

Supported by

Day 2 – Friday 13 Sept

 

While the imperative task of cultivating green talent remains significant in empowering the next generation, it represents only one facet of the multidimensional puzzle. To effectively address the pressing challenges of climate change, a comprehensive and collaborative effort spanning generations and disciplines is indispensable.

The Green Leaders of Tomorrow programme is designed to bridge an intergenerational and collaborative dialogue between young changemakers and established leaders to share their efforts in innovating sustainability and discuss how we could better address the pressing issues in the present collectively. How can we empower the next generation to disrupt the status quo? How can we foster collaboration between organisations of all sizes to tackle social and environmental challenges arising from climate change? What role can youths play in ensuring that Hong Kong is on an authentic trajectory to meet its net zero and climate goals?

In partnership with

Supported by

10:30 – 10:35

Opening Welcome: Green Leaders of Tomorrow

10:30 – 10:35

10:45 – 11:35

Integrating STEAM Education for Next Generations of Sustainability Practitioners

10:45 – 11:35

Conventionally, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education provides a foundation to support sustainability initiatives from a more technical perspective. Incorporating Arts into STEM (STEAM education) provides new perspectives and facilitates a more holistic approach to developing and supporting sustainability initiatives the focus of which goes beyond addressing environment-related issues by taking into consideration economic and social aspects.

This session strives to showcase the importance of STEAM education in cultivating critical and innovative thinking, equipping youth with problem-solving skills and holistic development to tackle burning problems with respect to sustainability.

On the other hand, this session aims to initiate a conversation on possible collaborations that businesses can pursue to integrate STEAM education for sustainable workforce development.

Learnings:

  • How does STEAM education enhance the quality of the workforce in sustainability careers?
  • How does STEAM empower and propel sustainability innovation in organisations?
  • How and what collaborations can businesses explore to integrate STEAM education to foster a sustainable workforce?

Post-Event Actions:

  • Reflect on and revise your organisation’s requirements for talent and alignment of in-house education and training programmes.
  • Consider the composition of teams working on developing or incorporating sustainable solutions. How can the composition of such teams be diversified in a way that would drive innovation?
  • Explore collaborations to integrate STEAM education for sustainable workforce development.

Supported by

11:35 – 12:25

Analysing Through a Value Creating Lens: Insights from Rising Change Makers

11:35 – 12:25

Sustainability is traditionally viewed as a cost centre, with sceptics withholding their buy-in and support, thus resulting in minimal efforts being poured into their companies’ sustainability journeys. It is imperative that a more innovative and youth perspective be adopted, traditional norms challenged, and greenwashing curbed to contribute to Hong Kong’s Net Zero goals in a commercial environment. Within this movement, youths play a critical role in uncovering hidden values, tackling obstacles and proposing practical strategies for integrating sustainability into business operations.

With a focus on revealing the often-overlooked benefits of sustainable practices and addressing the challenges faced by SMEs, this session aims to spark innovative solutions driven by the creative mindset and critical thinking of younger generations. Highlighting the importance of adopting a value creation lens, to define the impacts and merits of sustainability. Overall, our speakers will provide their actionable insights to leverage the energy and enthusiasm of youth in driving sustainability and innovation within their organizations, fostering a more resilient and dynamic business landscape.

Learnings:

  • How can youths cultivate innovation and critical thinking to advance sustainability within small and medium sized enterprises and startups?
  • How can we address the perception of sustainability as a cost center for SMEs and instead, promote investment for success?
  • How do we uncover and highlight the hidden benefits and opportunities that sustainable practices offer to SMEs through a value creation lens, particularly attracting talent and enhancing competitiveness?

Post-Event Actions:

  • Reflect on how your company views sustainability and its integration into business strategies
  • Rethink how sustainability can be used as an asset to further your business goals
  • Re-assess validity of existing sustainability initiatives and combat potential greenwashing schemes

Supported by

12:25 – 13:15

Building Bridges: A Multigenerational Dialogue on Integrating Sustainability in Corporates

12:25 – 13:15

“Building Bridges: A Multigenerational Dialogue on Integrating Sustainability in Corporates” is a panel discussion consisting of different actors collaborating on corporate sustainability projects – employers and youth employees from the same company, and start-up representatives with their larger corporate clients. Speakers are invited to share their case-studies of success, challenges faced, and advice related to leveraging opinions from youth in corporate settings.

The key takeaways from this session are:
(1) To gain understanding surrounding employer-employee collaboration for implementing systemic sustainability changes through leveraging youth opinions and ideas.
(2) To visualise how green start-ups and their clients can work together to implement change towards sustainability in corporations.
(3) For youth to gain insight into how they can voice their opinions as employees to drive change towards sustainability in their corporate roles.
(4) Showcase how companies can accommodate and be open minded towards youth opinions and ideas in corporate settings.

Learnings

  1. Case-study overview by employer and client (higher corporate) representatives – Tell us about your experience related to initiating corporate sustainability, giving a specific example of multigenerational or interdepartmental collaboration.
  2. Ask employee and start-up representative about the initiation of their respective projects – How was the project initiated? What structures were in place to allow for sustainability related discussions?
  3. Identify pain-points, or past and present challenges, in executing sustainability initiatives – What challenges have you faced, or are you currently facing, in initiating and executing corporate sustainability initiatives
  4. Identify key factors for successful implementation of sustainability initiatives – What were the key factors, dynamics or structures that led towards successful implementation of sustainability projects at a corporate level?
  5. Future outlook and advice for both youth in corporate settings, and for corporates looking to implement sustainability, emphasising the importance of multigenerational dialogue on sustainability in corporate settings – What advice do you have for youth attempting to step up within their companies to initiate sustainability projects? What advice do you have for other corporations looking to implement sustainability? Why is it important to create spaces for youth to speak up in corporate settings?

Post-Event Actions

  • Empower youth to speak up and share ideas regarding sustainability in corporate settings, and encourage youth to initiate cross-departmental collaboration for interdisciplinary action.
  • Promote sustainability initiatives across corporations, inspiring additional sustainability-related corporate action
  • For business representatives, we hope to inspire the creation of spaces for youth and mobilise resources to encourage integration of sustainability.

Supported by

14:15 – 15:05

Green Leaders of Tomorrow: Session Details Coming Soon

14:15 – 15:05

15:05 – 15:55

Visualising Sustainability in Youth Gen: Innovating Storytelling Through Multimedia

15:05 – 15:55

In today’s rapidly changing world, the urgency to address climate change and promote sustainability has become increasingly evident. This panel session brings together young creators who are at the forefront of utilising technology and multimedia strategies to bridge the gap between impactful storytelling.

Through their creative endeavours, young creators aim to visualise the actual ramifications of climate change, capturing the attention of audiences and creating a channel where the voices of community members and advocates can be heard. By leveraging the power of visual storytelling, they seek to inspire action and foster a deeper understanding of the pressing environmental challenges we face.

This panel session also explores the vital aspects of measuring and evaluating the impact of sustainability storytelling. KPIs and impact measurement strategies take centre stage as participants discuss effective methods to assess the reach and influence of sustainability narratives. By examining these KPIs and measurement strategies, the session aims to provide valuable insights for content creators, organisations, and advocates, enabling them to gauge the effectiveness of their sustainability communication efforts.

Learnings:

  • How can we effectively showcase the urgency and tangible effects of climate change and amplify the voices of community members and youth advocates?
  • How can we explore communication KPIs and strategies to measure the impact of sustainability storytelling?
  • How can we encourage collaborations between young content creators and businesses to expand the reach of sustainability messages and improve conversion rate?

Post-Event Actions:

  • Promote continuous dialogue and collaboration between young content creators and businesses to foster innovative approaches in communicating sustainability and creating impactful narratives
  • Develop metrics to measure conversion rate in storytelling and communications
  • Establish dedicated platforms or channels to amplify the perspectives of community members and youth advocates on sustainability issues

Supported by

All sessions are subject to change.