News & Events

Dr Ben Ku, Associate Professor of APSS and Director of China and Global Development Network (the Network), and Ms Kan YIP, Assistant Director (Development and Partnership) of the Network recently led a study tour to Aalborg and Copenhagen, Denmark from 5th to 14th June 2023. Five students from the Doctor of Social Work programme and four social work educators partners from various Mainland Chinese universities went on the tour with funding support from Keswick Foundation.

The team participated in the 6th International Conference on Practice Research in Social Work held by Aalborg University. Dr Ben Ku held a symposium on “Social Work Practice Research in Responding to Substantiality Development Goals (SDGs)”; and presented his paper on Hong Kong social work during COVID-19 lockdown. Three groups of students presented their papers in different panel sessions.

Visits to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were held to exchange experiences and stories; Danchurch Social – to discuss the strategies in engaging with vulnerable and homeless people; HopeNow – to learn the issues of human trafficking in Denmark; The Danish Institute of Human Rights – to discuss realising human rights in the SDGs; and Dreamtown – to learn their youth engagement work in Africa. The team attended a guided tour to Nordhavn to learn about innovative sustainable urban development of the region. Students and educators were actively engaging with academics and practitioners worldwide, further consolidating the knowledge they had learnt in class, which allowed them to advance and go further in their professional and academic career.