RUNNING AND WEAVING: SOCIAL DESIGN EDUCATION IN HONG KONG

You are cordially invited to attend the following event:

RUNNING AND WEAVING: SOCIAL DESIGN EDUCATION IN HONG KONG

A talk organised by the Social Design Lab

Speakers:

Charis Poon & Chan Kam-Fai

Date: Friday, 6 February 2026

Time: 4:30 PM

Venue: SDE3 Level 1 Gallery

The talk will examine the Capstone course for final-year students in the Social Design programme at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. Over the past three years, Kam Fai and Charis Poon have designed, re-designed, and re-redesigned successive rounds of curricular changes in response to Hong Kong’s contemporary conditions. Informed by shifts in student cohorts, evolving conceptions of social design, new partnership opportunities, and visions of possible futures, they will reflect on the course’s role in Hong Kong’s social design ecology and future trajectories. Selected student projects will be highlighted.

Chan Kam-Fai teaches Social Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His interests include community-driven design, design sensemaking, social design philosophy, and discourses on design and social change. He curates projects like Mundi (2017), Omnia Omnibus (since 2016), and the Ackbar Abbas translation project (since 2018). A founding member of Soil Trust (since 2021), which received the 2024 Don Norman Design Award.

Charis Poon is a Teaching Fellow in Social Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her practice spans zines, audio pieces, comics, and writing, focusing on the everyday, contemplation, and close relationships. Previously a freelance graphic designer, editor, and creative strategist, she holds an MA in Design Expanded Practice from Goldsmiths, University of London.