A Liberal Arts Approach to Promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Empowering Lingnan University innovators to make a positive impact in the community

By Nicholas Ooi Programme Manager, Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative, Lingnan University Faculty Innovation Fellows candidate

The launch of Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiatives (LEI) in 2018 made it clear that Lingnan is determined to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in its staff and students, and inspire them to become game-changers who positively impact the whole community.

Since 2018, 11 students from Lingnan University have joined the University Innovation Fellows (UIF) programme. At the very beginning, the innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystem wasn’t well established, and almost no one talked about being an entrepreneur or creating something new. Each academic year, Fellows developed a different approach to improve the I&E ecosystem on campus with methods including Design Thinking workshops, I&E Exploration Day, Sign Language workshops and more. As a Liberal Arts institution, Lingnan University offers a perfect foundation for innovation and entrepreneurship because our students learn to look beyond disciplinary boundaries and envision new possibilities. To promote the concept of Sustainable Development Goals, which the United Nations suggested, Fellows worked on different service-learning and community engagement projects. During their services, they also saw the importance of using Design Thinking to cultivate innovative thinking on campus and in the community.

During an interview, our Fellow, Max Wong, also mentioned, “This project introduced Design Thinking, which helps generate innovative ideas. Furthermore, we anticipated that students could feel empowered and bring positive impacts to their community.” Dickson Cheng also said that “it is valuable for students to equip themselves with Design Thinking skills that are widely recognized in business and academic fields worldwide.” One research study the Fellows have conducted also suggests that Lingnan students are interested in entrepreneurship but lack motivation and support. The study showed 56.6% out of 51 participants had a positive attitude towards their dreams but were only at the beginning stage in achieving them. This helped us realize that students need more empowerment and help when executing their visions.

Some students use service-learning activities to create more sustainable social enterprise simultaneously, and this is what we want to see in Design Thinking. Design Thinking emphasizes five different processes: empathy, definition, ideation, prototypes and testing, and in the end, the idea becomes a whole rounded practice. I joined Lingnan University 11 years ago, and I have witnessed the changes in both the university and students caused by advances in technology and the LEI influence in innovation and entrepreneurship training. The LEI team organized the first ever Asia Design Innovation Gallery in 2019 to engage academic staff members who are interested to adopt Design Thinking in their teaching around Hong Kong and Asia Pacific Region.

Lingnan University is the one and only university located in the New Territory West of Hong Kong, which is also in the center of the Greater Bay Area of China. The location itself plays a unique role in connecting with the community, especially in the sub-urban area of Hong Kong, Macao, and Chu Hai of China. Currently, because the innovation hub of Hong Kong is in Kowloon Districts and Hong Kong Island Districts, the New Territory West Districts are often neglected. Setting up an I&E hub at Lingnan University is a strategic move to promote the concept of Social Innovation and Inclusive Entrepreneurship. It allows members of the New Territory West Districts and the Greater Bay Area of China to use our facilities. Inclusive Entrepreneurship means that anyone can become an entrepreneur as long as they can access proper training, funding, and encouragement. This approach could promote inclusion both for entrepreneurs and their clients in the following ways.

For the Inclusive Entrepreneurship Project, we hope to create businesses together with the service users. Usually with social enterprises, we set up a company and serve people in need. In this initiative, we build the business up with the people in need, say, with the elderly, bringing them extra financial and social benefits such as engagement with the community. We also aim to create more social entrepreneurs on campus, because as a liberal arts university, we are committed to developing social innovation ecosystems with students to provide more value to the community. The LEI will take lead in launching this project in the New Territories West of Hong Kong and hope to benefit more than 5,000 beneficiaries.

Entrepreneurship is a practical manifestation of liberal arts students’ creative mindset. We train our students to become social entrepreneurs who create innovative, functional, and sustainable solutions to real-world problems. Our University Innovation Fellows act as ambassadors on campus and connect students with the community, inspiring students to take more risks and be more collaborative. The Fellows play a significant role in making these changes step by step. Innovation, entrepreneurship, and Design Thinking are crucial, as these skills and mindsets inspire students to take more risks and be more collaborative.

Looking to the future, especially after the pandemic, moving towards the new normal, our team at LEI plans to further extend our training and services for students in the hybrid mode (online and offline), nurturing more 21st century social entrepreneurs and global citizens. Lingnan’s liberal arts education offers the perfect foundation for innovation and entrepreneurship because our students learn to look beyond disciplinary boundaries to envision new possibilities. They are always ready for a new change.

Ideation with the elders, courtesy of Nicholas Ooi