Hong Kong University hosted the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organisations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)-Asia Conference 2018 from 27 – 28 July. Themed Evolving Government-Third Sector Relations in Asia, the conference aimed to address the changing roles of the third sector in public affairs, and the implications for nonprofit management, philanthropic practice, and volunteering.
This is the second edition of the conference’s Asian instalment, signalling an increased interest in the sector in the region. The 2017 conference took place in Beijing, China, and the upcoming edition of the conference in 2019 is due to take place in Tai Chung, Taiwan.
Mrs Carrie Lam, GBS, GBM, chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was the officiating guest at the conference where she shared that Hong Kong is moving in the direction of social innovation to meet social needs. Conference attendees – made up of academics, nonprofit executives, philanthropy practitioners, social entrepreneurs, and policymakers – presented a broad range of themes, from trajectories of government-third sector relations to processes of collaboration to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) and social media.
