Green Construction, Transformations and Insights for the City

Prof. Joseph Chan is the Associate Director of Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and lead the ‘Entrepreneurship, Design and Innovation’ programme at HKU Business School, The University of Hong Kong. He is part of the core team that established the new HKU School of Innovation. Joseph’s expertise lies in cross-disciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship strategies, smart cities and the digital economy. He promotes innovation collaboration between academia and industry, contributing to the cross-regional ecosystem. Joseph has been a keynote speaker at global events and masterclasses across various industries for international legislators and public covering topics such as Web3, design thinking and innovation & entrepreneurship. Prof. Chan has also published multiple articles and interviews in influential global and local media outlets. Collaborating with International Poverty Reduction Center in China, he is the editor of the book ‘Poverty Alleviation Case Analysis’ in China, published by Springer. Prof. Chan is also an educator who inspires students across different levels that include senior executives to be creative in business, technology, social and education innovation – his students have won numerous local and global innovation awards. Joseph has been awarded Best Design Educator Award in 2016 by Hong Kong Designers Association.

Through a design thinking user-centric approach and quantitative-qualitative research data analysis, with value-chain and supply-chain carefully-considered, he has transformed the use of design, research and technology for a wide range of practical social and business market applications. His projects span Europe, Middle East and Asia for corporates and governments. He co-founded the start-ups on Web3-based digital asset management and Web3 smart CRM system, which have received business and technology innovation awards from Singapore, Germany and China Mainland, Hong Kong. Joseph is currently Secretary General of the General Chamber of Greater Bay Area Young Entrepreneurs Association and co-chairman of the Greater Bay Area Innovation Think Tank.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

Prof. Joseph Chan is focusing on Innovation & Entrepreneurship and its ecosystem, which aligns with SDG9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. The other area by Joseph is Poverty Alleviation, not just in Hong Kong but spanning from cases learning in Mainland to international collaboration and support.

Pascaline Hayoun is the CEO of Saint-Gobain Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan leading the local entity, with also some activities in South China. With five plants and a team of over 200 employees, she is responsible for driving the expansion and growth of the company in the region. This includes managing a diverse portfolio of construction products, such as plaster & fiber cement board, insulation, glass façade, and construction chemicals including notably mortar, waterproofing, concrete admixture and cement additive.

Prior to her current role, Pascaline held the position of Director of Strategy & Sustainability Worldwide for Saint-Gobain Surface Solutions. She worked on various strategic initiatives, including corporate business strategy and planning, mergers and acquisitions, sustainability, innovation, product compliance, and the global “electric vehicle” program for the entire Saint-Gobain group.

Pascaline has extensive experience in R&D and innovation within the Saint-Gobain group. She held leadership positions at CertainTeed in the United States and in Life Sciences Business in France, overseeing product development, process improvement, cost reduction initiatives, and creation of production lines and factories.

Pascaline holds a PhD in Material Physics & Chemistry from Sorbonne University, as well as Masters in Materials Science and Engineering from ESPCI Paris-PSL. She also completed an executive Master of Business Administration from the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University. Pascaline has received numerous honors and awards for her contributions, the latest one being the 2023 Women in Industry Award for Sustainability by Usine Nouvelle.

Outside of her career, Pascaline acts as a French Foreign Trade Advisors for Hong Kong and actively promotes Science and inspires girls in STEM. She serves as Ambassador for Girls in Science for the Fondation L’Oréal, co-founded an agricultural greenhouse, and believes in diversity and positive change. Her motto: Believe in the impossible and be the change.

Joel Idt is full professor at the Paris School of Urbanism (Université Gustave Eiffel – Lab’urba – France). His work focuses on the links between technical and political aspects of collective action in urban planning. From this perspective, he has tackled major urban projects in France and Europe, as well as more ordinary forms of urbanization on the outskirts of large conurbations. Among the major urban projects he has studied, he recently worked on the management of the urban project for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (as part of the Coubertin research program).

Prof. Shen completed his PhD degree in Real Estate Finance at The University of Hong Kong. He obtained a bachelor degree in Land Management and master degree in Finance from Renmin University of China in Beijing. Prior to joining the Department of Building and Real Estate in June 2019, Prof. Shen was a visiting scholar at the University of Connecticut, and worked at the School of Accounting & Finance, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Department of Economics & Finance, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. He is also a certificated FRM (Financial Risk Manager) and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder. His current research focuses on ESG, green building, green finance, and infrastructure finance. He serves as Principal Investigator for competitive research grants awarded by the Research Grants Council and the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit.