Over 400 PolyU students and staff participate in Service-Learning programme in Wenshan, Yunnan; Largest-ever initiative in Chinese Mainland, spanning diverse projects from six faculties and schools

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has long embraced holistic education as a critical part of its undergraduate curriculum. In particular, Service-Learning enables students to apply their university-learned knowledge and skills to support communities in need, with the aim of nurturing socially responsible professionals and leaders with a strong sense of national pride and a global perspective. Supported by the People’s Government of Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and local charitable organisations, this year PolyU operated its largest-ever Service-Learning programme in Wenshan from May to July. More than 400 students and staff members took part in nine projects, benefiting over 4,000 local residents and helping to inject lasting vitality into the local community.

PolyU established a Service-Learning base in Yunnan in the 2023/24 academic year and since then has expanded its local partnership network to align service content more closely with community needs while creating real-world settings for students’ learning. The University has also signed cooperation agreements with the Communist Youth League Committee of Wenshan Prefecture and the People’s Government of Malipo County to establish a long-term collaborative mechanism between the University and local communities.

This summer, six PolyU faculties and schools launched nine Service-Learning projects in Wenshan, Yunnan. In a project developed by the Department of Computing, students created an artificial intelligence digital human platform for elderly residents in a nursing home to recreate their memories and life experiences, preserving precious stories through technology. Another project, led by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, saw students utilise smart tools to help villagers develop digital cultural tourism innovation solutions such as multimedia guide information, transforming cultural resources into development momentum. Meanwhile, the School of Fashion and Textiles launched a project in which students collaborated with embroidery artists to integrate traditional Zhuang Embroidery techniques into vibrant, contemporary fashion design, promoting the innovative inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.

The Wenshan Service-Learning programme collaborated with 12 local service organisations, including vocational schools, homes for the elderly, primary and secondary schools, and village committees, delivering tangible benefits to grassroots communities. With support from the Ministry of Education’s “Ten Thousand People’s Scheme,” an exchange programme for students and faculty of Hong Kong and Macao universities with Chinese Mainland institutions, this year PolyU also engaged around 100 students and staff from Yunnan University, Yunnan Minzu University and Shenzhen University in the service projects. This synergy further promoted PolyU’s Service-Learning pedagogy, deepened youth exchanges between the Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland, and built a new collaborative model for talent cultivation.

PolyU students participating on the Service-Learning programme described the experience as highly rewarding, strengthening their enthusiasm for serving society and the country. LI Kwan-to, a Year 4 student from the Department of Computing, shared his view that the programme had bridged the gap between the classroom and the real world, and had allowed his innovations to be translated into tangible support for the elderly, making the learning experience both vivid and meaningful. FAN Yanjun, a Year 2 student from the School of Accounting and Finance, said that Service-Learning was a journey of heart-to-heart exchange, and hoped this sincerity could be passed on from one generation to the next, fostering better people-to-people connection.

Prof. Grace NGAI, Head of the Service-Learning and Leadership Office of PolyU, stated, “Over the past decade, PolyU has accumulated extensive Service-Learning experience in Chinese Mainland, leaving our footprints throughout the country. We have taken our students to different Mainland cities, and even remote villages and ethnic minority communities, to serve vulnerable groups such as the elderly and left-behind children. This experience not only enriches our students’ learning and hones their skills and knowledge, but also enables them to gain a deeper understanding of the Nation, and to develop global citizenship and a strong sense of social responsibility. With these qualities, they can proactively contribute their strengths to meet the development needs of the Nation and beyond.”

As the first Hong Kong university to incorporate Service-Learning as a core element of the undergraduate curriculum, PolyU has long encouraged students to care about society, apply what they have learnt and respond to social needs proactively. The University is committed to promoting high-quality Service-Learning projects, and currently runs multiple service-learning bases in Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, Southeast Asia and Africa. More than 50,000 PolyU students have enrolled on service-learning subjects since 2012 and contributed over two million service hours in total—demonstrating PolyU students’ sense of social responsibility and youth leadership.

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