PolyU signs MoU with Society Work Department of CPC Jinan Municipal Committee and The Keswick Foundation to explore innovative comprehensive service model…

The rapid growth of the platform economy has given rise to new employment groups comprising food delivery couriers, express couriers and ride-hailing drivers who rely on online platforms. In response to National policy requirements to strengthen services and management of new employment groups, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Society Work Department of the CPC Jinan Municipal Committee and The Keswick Foundation. This collaboration seeks to integrate government, professional and philanthropic resources to explore an innovative, comprehensive service model for new employment groups, promote the implementation of a “Social Work + Rehabilitation” interprofessional service model and establish a signature brand for charitable services.

A signing ceremony was held on 27 May on the PolyU campus. Witnessed by Dr Laura LO, Associate Vice President (Institutional Advancement) of PolyU; Mr GAO Benwei, Deputy Director of the Society Work Department of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee; and Mrs Stacey HILDEBRANDT, Governor of The Keswick Foundation, the MoU was signed by Prof. David SHUM, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Health and Social Sciences; Mr LIU Yiwu, Deputy Director of the Society Work Department of the CPC Jinan Municipal Committee; and Dr Max WONG, Executive Director of The Keswick Foundation.

Dr Laura Lo noted, “This collaboration aligns closely with National policy directions and responds proactively to local governance and livelihood needs. It focuses on the core needs of the new employment groups, including occupational health, psychological support and social integration, demonstrating PolyU’s strong expertise in healthcare, rehabilitation and social sciences. Through this collaboration, we aim to establish a collaborative mechanism and an interprofessional, comprehensive service model that combines ‘Policy + Professional Expertise + Philanthropy’, contributing to the Nation’s grassroots governance innovation.”

Mr Gao Benwei stated, “The new employment groups face many urgent needs that require more targeted services. We hope to seize this collaboration opportunity to establish a regular communication mechanism, leveraging the Jinan pilot to build and improve a high-standard professional service system, develop a structured workforce and meticulously implement service programmes. Shandong and Hong Kong will learn from and complement each other’s strengths to jointly advance professional cooperation in social work between the two regions.”

Prof. Angelina YUEN-TSANG, Honorary Advisor and Governor of The Keswick Foundation, said, “This initiative embodies the advantages of interprofessional and interinstitutional collaboration, promoting government-philanthropy synergy. It combines government policy guidance, university quality assurance in professional supervision and performance evaluation, and the Foundation’s philanthropic resources, project experience and capacity-building support. Starting in Jinan, the project aims to establish a replicable service model within community and professional domains, thereby deepening collaboration between Shandong and Hong Kong.”

This collaboration will launch its first pilot scheme in Jinan, with the Jinan Ai-Wu-Jiang Service Centre for the Disabled and the Jinan Ji-Ai Social Work Service Centre acting as the executing agencies. The China and Global Development Network (CGDN) of the PolyU Department of Applied Social Sciences will be a key partner, providing professional supervision and consultancy in social work, participating in service model design, talent cultivation and evaluation research, and offering academic leadership and professional support.

This initiative will also leverage CGDN as a strategic platform to facilitate knowledge exchange and policy engagement, and to disseminate its impact at both National and international levels. At the same time, the PolyU Department of Rehabilitation Sciences will provide professional technical support in rehabilitation, including with regard to service design, remote guidance and professional training, creating complementary synergy with social work services. The three parties aim to explore the development of a tripartite care service system for new employment groups based on a “policy support + professional collaboration + social participation” framework, thereby establishing a replicable and scalable interprofessional comprehensive service model that will help improve the health and quality of life of new employment groups.