APS and the University of Saskatchewan jointly organise a virtual summer school and policy analysis competition

The Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) and the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy of the University of Saskatchewan (USask) jointly organised the inaugural edition of the Canada-Hong Kong Public Affairs and Management International Summer School cum Policy Analysis Competition 2021 between 16 and 23 August 2021. Due to the pandemic and related travel restrictions, the summer school programme took place virtually. Speakers and students from different countries and cities across the globe, including Canada, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore, participated in the programme.

In the first five days of the progamme, faculty led sessions in the mornings, which introduced students to various facets of public affairs and public management in different sectors around the world. Leading the morning sessions were academicians from EdUHK, USask, University of Regina, and Simon Fraser University, as well as invited guests that were current and former public service practitioners. These were complemented by tutorials and student cafés in the afternoon, where students shared their views on policy analysis.

The programme adopted varied formats, including seminars, workshops, a film screening and case studies, to help students to gain insight and develop skills to understand real-world issues on a wide range of topics spanning health, climate change, policy analysis, refugee issues, urban governance, eco-tourism, human resource management and use of data.

Five days of faculty-led sessions were followed by a policy analysis competition. Teams consisting of students from universities of various countries and cities were required to choose a territory or country. They were then given 48 hours to define its pressing problems with respect to COVID-19, diagnose its causes, evaluate the government response, and make policy recommendations before presenting their case in the competition on the final day of the summer school. A total of 26 participants formed six teams to join the competition. The team awarded First Prize examined the situation of migrants in India during the pandemic-induced lockdown, while the Second Prize winners focused on Japan’s struggles in balancing economic recovery with curbing COVID-19 transmission.

Dr Alex He Jingwei, Associate Head of the Department of Asian and Policy Studies and coordinator of this year’s summer school programme, remarked at the opening ceremony that: “The department has hosted a series of public policy summer school programmes since 2016. This year, we are very proud to be able to work with the Johnson Shoyama School of Public Policy of the University Saskatchewan to organise this inaugural international summer school. We also thank all the leading policy scholars and former senior government officials from both Hong Kong and Canada who have shared with us their expert knowledge in their respective fields. Their contributions have made this one-week programme fascinating and rewarding.”