You or your representatives are cordially invited to cover the Hong Kong & Macao SAR Youth: Identity, Citizenship Education and Civic Participation 2016 Conference, co-organised by the Department of Social Sciences, Centre for Governance and Citizenship, and the Resource Centre for Interdisciplinary and Liberal Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) on 17 December 2016 (Saturday).

In recent years, the national identity and civic participation of Hong Kong and Macao youth have become increasingly of concern. The younger generations in the two Special Administrative Regions have taken the lead in various large scale social movements such as the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong during 2014 and the movement against the pension scheme for the Chief Executive and chief government officials in Macau during the same year. Some people have attributed the active participation of younger people in these movements to low levels of national identification. Do local and national identification actually affect youth participation in social movements? Moreover, what are the attitudes of Hong Kong and Macao youth towards national identity and civic participation?

The conference will provide a platform for discussing these questions, and for identifying the implications for the respective governments and societies of understanding youth national identity. Speakers will include experts in politics, sociology and civic education from Hong Kong, Macao, mainland China and Taiwan, as well as frontline teachers and the social movement leaders of the new generation.  

Speaking at the conference will be, among others, Professor Kerry Kennedy, Advisor (Academic Development) at EdUHK; Mr Cheung Yui-fai, Vice President of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union; Mr Sou Ka-hou, Vice President of the New Macau Association; Dr Chung Kim-wah, Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Social Sciences and Director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and Dr Choi Chi-u, Associate Professor at City University of Macau and the University of Saint Joseph.

Other details are as follows:

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For media enquiries, please contact Dr Chris Cheung of EdUHK at 2948 7306 or by email at cheunghw@eduhk.hk.