Social Entrepreneurship Initiatives (SEI)

Information of Social Entrepreneurship Initiatives (SEI)

  1. Introduction

To nurture entrepreneurial culture among EdUHK students and to offer students with formal opportunities to learn and develop entrepreneurial and innovative skills and mindsets, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Education (CEIE) of The Education University of Hong Kong provides a variety of entrepreneurship and innovation (E&I) activities for credit-bearing Experiential Learning Courses (ELCs) on E&I jointly offered with Faculties from 2022-2023 onward.

Social Entrepreneurship Initiatives (SEI) is one of the E&I activities for ELCs on E&I.  Students selecting SEI will have opportunity to work in teams with an assigned Community Partner, i.e. social enterprise or non-government organization (NGO), to apply entrepreneurial and innovative skills in professional and authentic context and generate and implement innovative solutions for the identified social issues.

  1. Objectives
  1. a) To enhance students’ understanding on how social enterprises and NGOs respond to emerging social, economic and environmental challenges;
  2. b) To provide students with experiential learning opportunity to apply entrepreneurial and innovative skills in professional and authentic context;
  3. c) To foster students’ 21st century skills and positive values, echoing to the Graduate Attributes of the University; and
  4. d) To promote strategic partnership between the University and local Community Partners.
  1. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

Upon completion of the SEI, students will be able to:

ILO1    Demonstrate an understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation concepts

ILO2    Identify the 21st century skills and values required as an entrepreneur

ILO3    Examine innovative solutions to specific needs of social issues

ILO4    Consolidate the experience gained from the process of entrepreneurship and innovation

  1. Tripartite Partnership

Through SEI, it is expected that a tripartite partnership benefiting the University, the participating students, the Community Partners and the community at large could be established.

The University:

  • Strengthen the ties with the social enterprise and NGO community
  • Develop and nurture student leaders in professional and authentic contexts
  • Cultivate social responsibility, ethical responsibility and innovative skills of students
  • Contribute to social and economic well-being of the community
  • Demonstrate to the public that the University is a social caring organization
  • Develop and establish formal agreements with Community Partners for E&I activities and other collaborations in the long run as appropriate

Participating students:

  • Acquire experiential learning in professional and authentic contexts
  • Implement innovative ideas with supervision and advice from practitioners
  • Explore career interests in non-profit organizations and social advocacy
  • Equip with cross-disciplinary professional knowledge and skills

Community Partners and community at large:

  • Nurture young generations
  • Examine and collaborate innovative ideas with EdUHK students
  • Identify potential interns or employees
  • Enhance existing services for target groups
  1. Roles and Responsibilities

Community Partners:

  • To define the scope of initiative(s) under their supervision together with CEIE
  • To appoint an executive to meet with Student Team(s) on a regular basis, to keep track on the progress and to supervise the implementation of activities.
  • To share relevant data and information with Student Team(s) if deemed appropriate.
  • To provide suggestions for improvement to Student Team(s) regularly and provide overall feedback to the team(s) and CEIE in a final debriefing.

Participating students:

  • To prepare a proposal of actions and activities which defines the objectives, target groups and implementation plan of activities after the first meeting with the assigned Community Partner.
  • To execute the proposal which should include at least one service activity lasting for no less than 2 hours (e.g. organizing an event, constructing or modifying a tool, etc.), and to attend a debriefing session with the Community Partner after completing all activities.
  • To keep close contact with the Community Partner and CEIE staff.
  • To keep track on the implementation progress and ensure the deliverables to be ready on time.
  • To keep all data, information, analyses and recommendations confidential if requested by the assigned Community Partner.
  • To represent themselves and EdUHK in a professional manner.
  • To ensure all Student Team members contribute equally to all preparation work and activities. Peer evaluation will be conducted at the end of the SEI.
  • To present their learning experience and reflection in a final debriefing
  • To strictly follow the University’s regulations on academic integrity and honesty, to use footnoting and citations in any written reports and presentations where appropriate in order to avoid plagiarism.

CEIE:

  • To discuss with the Community Partners and confirm the scope of individual initiatives under their supervision.
  • To handle logistics, including enrolment and applications, student team formation, etc.
  • To keep track on the progress and keep close contact with the Community Partner and Student Teams.
  • To participate in the final debriefing and to evaluate each round of Social Entrepreneurship Initiatives.
  1. Assessment

Similar to other E&I activities organized by CEIE, after completing SEI, participating students are required to evaluate and reflect their EL experience in a 200-word report.  The report should focus on the followings:

  • Illustrate how the students analyze the issue with the most relevant information, including evaluation of evidence and logical reasoning, and describe how this process would enhance their skills of analysis to identify strategies
  • Explain how they generate the project idea by exploring information from multiple perspectives, and explain how this process would enhance their innovation
  1. Arrangement
Expected working hours: Each student is expected to work 18 hours (Experiential Learning Hours) for their SEI, which are equivalent to 12 contact hours of an EdUHK course
Target students: 4-year full-time undergraduate programme students taking ELCs on E&I
Size of Student Teams: 5 to 8 students will form a Student Team and work together with a Community Partner
Number of Student Teams and Community Partners in each semester ·     The numbers of Student Teams, participating students and Community Partners will vary in each semester, depending on the total number of students enroll to ELCs on E&I in that semester.

·     Each Community Partner is expected to supervise 1 to 3 Student Team(s) within a semester.  CEIE will discuss with the Community Partners on the number of team(s) they can accommodate.

·     The overall quota is 20% to 30% of students enrolled to ELCs on E&I in that semester
  1. Work Schedule

The working schedule stated below is subject to change.  CEIE and the Community Partner reserve the right to make any changes in the schedule as deemed appropriate.

Week / Date Task Action By
Week 1 1st Briefing

·    Briefing sessions for students enrolled to ELCs on E&I on the two options of combination of E&I activities, i.e. with or without Social Entrepreneurship Initiative; and

·    Application, team formation and assignment of Community Partner

 CEIE staff and all students enrolled to ELCs on E&I
Week 3

17 Sep 2025 (Wed)

2:30-3:00pm

Zoom: https://eduhk.zoom.us/j/2948703300?pwd=yx2fpnZRclCKh3ocVazUxLQDXBrlfF.1

ID: 2948703300
Passcode: CEIE

 Kick-off Online Briefing

·    Watch the video and get to know the Community Partners

·    Community Partners will provide details of the scope of Project

·    Registered students will form a team of 5-8 students and select the preferred project

·    One of the groupmates must email the group list along with the 1st and 2nd preferred projects to ceie@eduhk.hk by 26 Sep 2025 [Please note that there is a possibility of additional students being added to your group.]

·    Students without a group could send their 1st and 2nd preferred projects by email to ceie@eduhk.hk by 26 Sep 2025 [Again, please note the possibility of additional students joining with you]

·    Student Team shall create a WhatsApp Group and identify their team leaders by 26 Sep 2025

 Community Partners, CEIE staff and Student Teams
Week 5

7 Oct 2025 (Tue)

 Submission of Proposal

·    Submission of proposals with proposed strategies and solutions in response to the issues identified

·    Proposals should be submitted to ceie@eduhk.hk by 7 Oct 2025 (Tue)

 Student Teams
Week 6 Second Meeting

·    Second meeting with the Community Partners to seek in view of feasibility and societal impact in authentic context

·    Confirm the implementation date of the project which should include at least one service activity lasting for no less than 2 hours (e.g. organizing an event, constructing or modifying a tool, etc.)

 Community Partners and Student Teams
Weeks 6-10 Preparation and Implementation

·    Student Team will prepare and execute their proposals

·    Student Team will have to attend a debriefing session with their Community Partners

 Community Partners, CEIE staff and Student Teams
7 Nov 2025 Reflection and Evaluation

Each student will have to complete the online evaluation form, together with their reflection* and 6 digital photos (not less than 1MB per photo) by 7 Nov 2025

*Details of the assessment/ reflection can be found at https://ceie.eduhk.hk/ei-activities-supporting-ge-curriculum/

 Student Teams

2 Sep 2025