Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

香港視障長者生活質素調査 : 應用手冊, The Hong Kong Society For The Blind 香港盲人輔導會, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University 嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心

Manual & Guide 手冊及指引

隨著社會的發展，社會大眾對生活的要求亦日益提高。人們並不滿足於基本的生活程度，而是追求舒適的生活環境，高質素的服務，對身體狀況亦更加關注。

在90年代中期開始，香港的學者開始研究「生活質素」這個課題，並發展出一些適合香港使用的「生活質素」量度工具。社會上不同群體對生活質素的界定及期望，可能和一般市民有所不同，要量度以致改善他們的生活質素，便需要特定的量度工具。

香港盲人輔導會於2008年委託嶺南大學亞太老年學研究中心設計了一份有關視障長者生活質素的問卷，並成功訪問了580位55歲以上分別居住在社區及院舍的長者，以便了解他們的生活質素。

是次研究的目標為：

1. 從香港視障長者的角度出發，發展一套量化及可量度視障長者生活質素的工具；

2. 為香港視障長者的生活質素提供一個研究上的參考基數；

3. 以視障長者生活質素量度工具作日後服務管理，為服務提供方向性的指引，並成為本地視障長者服務發展的參考。

本應用手冊將會以深入淺出的方法，向大家闡述如何利用這份「視障長者生活質素調查問卷」評估服務成效及作服務管理。

Elderly Participation And Empowerment : Experiences Of Sage, Kam Lee Lam, Sau Lai, Teresa Lee

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

The Hong Kong Society for the Age (SAGE) established in 1977 is one of the well-known Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in responding to the rapid growing elderly population and the welfare needs of the senior in Hong Kong. Its services include Care and Attention Home, Elderly Hostels, Elderly Centres, Day Care Centres, Home Care Service. etc. The mission of SAGE is to ensure the elderly to have dignity and reasonable comfort in their old age. In 2008, SAGE aims to provide distinctive services to the elderly, i.e. elderly participation and empowerment (Homepage of Sage: http://www.sage.org.hk/eng/ideal.htm). This paper focuses how Sage …

服務研習通訊第七期 Office Of Service-Learning Newsletters, Volume 7, Office Of Service-Learning, Lingnan University

SLant 嶺召

服務研習之旅：學生力量

今期通訊以「服務研習之旅：學生力量」為主題，展示出我們致力營造以學生為本，以及發展全人質素的學習環境。

Service-Learning Journey: Students' Power

With the theme of “Journey of Service-Learning: Students’ Power”, we highlight how we devote to fostering student-oriented learning and whole-person development in this issue.

Service-Learning Model At Lingnan University : Development Strategies And Outcome Assessment, Cheung Ming, Alfred Chan, K. M., William Lee, Hok Ka, Carol Ma

OSL Journal / Paper Series 論文

Background: The Service-Learning and Research Scheme (SLRS) is the showcase of Lingnan’s Service-Learning model, which is the manifestation of Lingnan University’s Liberal Arts education and mission “Education for Service”. The scheme was a pilot project, from 2004 to 2005, which led to the development of a Universitywide protocol for Service-Learning at Lingnan University.

Aims: This paper highlights the processes and the strategies of incorporating Service-Learning into courses, based on the experiences in Lingnan University. Implementation and evaluation models are suggested to provide a framework for other interested parties to apply Service-Learning in their learning and teaching.

Results: This is a …

The Development Of 'Hong Kong Quality Of Life For The Visually Impaired Elderly Scale' (Hkqolvies) : Research Report, The Hong Kong Society For The Blind, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University

APIAS Research Report 研究報告

The project is a pioneer study that focuses on the development of a set of indicators for measuring the quality of life of the visually impaired elders in Hong Kong with the cooperation of Hong Kong Society for the Blind (HKSB). The study simulated the procedures for the development of WHOQoL and have developed and validated the new scale that contains a total of 43 items which grouped into 6 domains, namely, Health, Subjective Well-being, Family and Community Support, Living Condition, Finance and Interpersonal Relationship.

The study also marked the first taking of HKQoLVIES, which will serve as the benchmark …

發揚博雅教育理念, Office Of Service-Learning, Lingnan University

OSL Supplement 新聞特刊

原載於2009年11月30日《星島日報》。

Originally published in "Sing Tao Daily" 30th Nov 2009.

Intergeneration Perception Toward Happiness In Elderly Life, Yue, Natale Cheung, Chi Wai, Jackie Chan

APIAS Monograph 專題論文

According to the latest statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department, the Hong Kong population aged 65 and over was 829,300 at the end of 2004. The number of persons aged 65 or older is projected to increase by 17.9% to 978,000, representing 13.2% of population in 2013. This increase in the number and proportion of elderly will intensify the challenges of ageing, which will put further pressure on the government and the society at large. In response to Hong Kong's rapid aging population and in line with the concept of active and successful ageing, the question of how …

Justice And Adaptation To Climate Change In The Asia Pacific Region : Designing International Institutions, Paul G. Harris, Jonathan Symons

CAPS Working Paper Series

Many developing states argue that they should be compensated for the costs of adapting to climate change. They point out that industrialised states are responsible for the bulk of historical greenhouse gas emissions and per capita first world emissions continue to dwarf developing world emissions. Yet, given the substantial internal inequality and rapidly rising emissions within developing states such as China and India, the same arguments that justify international adaptation compensation might equally justify internal redistributive measures. This paper addresses the question of how international institutions that fund adaptation to anthropogenic climate change should be designed. After reviewing both communitarian …

Climate Protection In The People’S Republic Of China, Bartosz Rakoczy

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Climate protection is one of the basic problems in the modern world. It is also a problem which should be solved in an all-world scale and not by each state separately. It does not mean, however, that individual states could not regulate issues concerning climate protection in their own legislation. Constitutional regulations play an important role in climate protection.

Climate protection in the constitution of the People’s Republic Of China is carried out on several plains. First, climate is protected as an environmental element to the use of which all citizens have the right. Public authorities ensure climate protection. Second, …

Embedding Climate Change In The Curriculum, John Willott

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Climate change presents significant scientific, technical, ethical and political challenges. Attitudes to climate change are a function of tradition and culture, and the prevailing discourses in society and the media. Educators have a key role in understanding these attitudes and promoting behavioural changes. However, the transdisciplinary nature of the issues can present a problem for staff and students alike. While it is relevant to many, or most, areas of the curriculum, traditional discipline and organisational boundaries, and the knowledge, skills and educational history of both staff and students, can prevent engagement. Examples include teaching the concepts in non-science courses, engaging …

Sustainable Consumption And Production As Climate Change Mitigation Strategy For China, Patrick Schroeder

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China’s greenhouse gas emissions currently stem mainly from sources related to industrial production and electricity generation. With accelerating speed of urbanisation and economic policies which aim to increase domestic consumption, over the next decade a major share of China’s emissions will be resulting from consumption related activities. This paper will discuss the current status of consumption in China and options of the integrated approach of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) for reducing emissions from the three consumption demand areas housing, mobility and food. In this context it discusses consumption trends and the growth of the global consumer class in China, …

Climate Change, The Traditional Chinese Calendar And Modernity, Rey Tiquia

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

This era of unpredictable and at times colossal global climactic weather changes place tremendous pressure upon the human internal environment to adapt to these dire changes in the external environment. It places tremendous pressure upon our inner Guardian Qi wei qi as well as the air or atmosphere da qi (which the Chinese Martial artist Lu Ji Tang refers to metaphorically as similar to our inner Guardian Qi).

In premodern China, climate change is always contingent upon time and the seasons i.e. the twelve two-hour periods, lunar month, seventy two pentads, twenty four solar periods, the four seasons, the year …

Public Initiatives And Local Practices In China’S Response To Climate Change, Lei Xie

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China is facing increasing environmental pressure, among which climate change is the most serious one. As many areas are still under development, the country’s vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change lies not only in its ecological aspect but also its social aspect. In particular, the country’s increasing energy demand has posed serious problem, as the country strongly relies on fossil-fuels. Dilemmas exist between development and increasing level of pollution. Local government, to realize its political credibility often permits environmental pollution happen and has been ineffective in local environmental governance.

Chinese environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGO), led by journalists, scientists …

Modeling China’S Climate Change Policy In A Post-2012 Framework : On The Perspective Of Reputation, Edward Xuedong Wang

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The post-2012 world Climate Change scenario would heavily depend on China’s next steps on Climate Change Policy. The world could not coordinate their policies to slow global warming without China’s participation. However, China, the world’s largest GHG emitter with the rising energy demand, is reluctant to change its high-carbon economic development models by sticking to the concept of Climate Injustice. The Economic Cost and Climate Injustice are two major concerns Chinese government faces. This raises the issue of which approach would be most likely to stimulate and persuade China to take appropriate actions in the post-2012 climate regime.

This paper …

The Integrated Impacts Of Climate Change, Water Availability And Socio-Economic Development On China’S Food Production, Wei Xiong, Declan Conway, Erda Lin, Yinlong Xu, Hui Ju, Jinhe Jiang, Ian Holman, Yan Li

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Food production in China is a fundamental component of the national economy and driver of agricultural policy. Sustaining and increasing output to meet growing demand faces significant challenges including, climate change, increasing population, agricultural land loss, and competing demands for water. The integrated impacts of climate change, water availability, and other socioeconomic pressures on China’s food production are poorly understood. By linking crop and water simulation models and two scenarios of climate and socioeconomic change (downscaled from IPCC SRES A2 and B2) we demonstrate that under these scenarios out to 2050 the absolute effects of climate change alone are modest …

Ecological Localness And Legitimacy Of Science Policy : Mapping Climate Issue In Research Over China And Taiwan, Shih-Jung Chen

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

As science increasingly plays a vital role in global environmental governance, localness has become the focus in scientific interpretation of nature in terms of policy legitimacy and social communication. However, localness would not germinate until the issue of global change is linked locally, a social construction process which shapes the way of interpreting nature/society interaction and affects local ecological cognition. Localness thus indicates not only legitimacy but also an imperative for responsive actions in a society. It might be argued that although political consideration, with special respect to its stance in international negotiation, determines the extent to which national policy …

China's Renewable Energy Policy : From Project-Based To Strategic Policy Making: Cases Of Wind And Solar, Veronica Pei-Fei Chang, Hans Bruyninckx

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China is challenged by the imbalance between rapid economic growth and lacking environmental protection. Economic growth and increasingly intensive use of energy are certainly the main causes of environmental degradation in China. However, the central state tries to find a way out of the energy-environment dilemma. In 2005, the Chinese president Hu Jin-Tao emphasized that renewable energy was “an indispensable measure to deal with the increasingly serious issues of energy and environment”. The following year, China's Renewable Energy Law took effect, indicating a turning point in the energy policy.

This paper investigates China’s wind and solar energy, because they both …

Climate Change In Hong Kong : Observations And Projections, Edwin W. L. Ginn, T. C. Lee, K. Y. Chan

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The Hong Kong Observatory has been making meteorological observations at its headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui since 1884. Analysis of the extensive past records reveals that the temperature rise in Hong Kong during the past 125 years is in accord with the global rising trend. In last few decades anthropogenic influences, especially urbanization, have contributed significantly to the accelerated rising trend. A similar increasing trend is also observed for rainfall but the trend after 1947 is not statistically significant. Other observations such as increasing cloud amounts, decreasing total global solar radiation and rising sea level are all consistent with the …

China’S Dilemma In Climate Change Mitigation : The Energy Problem, Bo Miao, Graeme Lang

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The vulnerability of China to the adverse impacts of rising global warming is outlined, including projected impacts on coastlines, agriculture, water supply, land degradation, and public health, since these are important reasons why China, partly for reasons of national security, is increasingly addressing the climate change problem in national and international discussions. This paper then profiles China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and illustrates how the pressure from the international community, especially that from the US, would impel China to make more substantial contribution to global climate effort. After examining China’s coal-dominated energy mix, we review the current approaches undertaken by …

Are There Policy Tunnels For China To Follow?, Jan Kunnas, Timo Myllyntaus

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

According to the controversial “environmental Kuznets curve” –hypothesis (EKC), some pollution would follow an inverted U-curve related to incomes, increasing at low income levels and decreasing at high income levels. Mohan Munasinghe argues (in a gerschenkronian way): “that developing countries could learn from past experiences of the industrialized world by adopting measures which would permit them to ´tunnel´ through the EKC, providing a possibility to avoid the most serious damage to the environment by avoiding the peak before a downturn of the emissions...” In our presentation, which is based on a comparison of Denmark’s, Finland’s, Sweden’s and Switzerland’s carbon dioxide …

Predictability And China’S Legally Binding Goal Of Co2 Emissions In The Copenhagen Negotiation, Yuan Xu

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Two facts define China’s status in the global efforts of CO2 mitigation: China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest CO2 emitter. And as a developing country with low per capita emissions, China will grow into a much bigger one. Accordingly, in the coming Copenhagen negotiation, whether China will accept a legally binding goal is of great importance. China’s CO2 emissions in the past three decades are analyzed in this paper to distinguish two prominent features: abrupt changes and cycles. Abrupt changes break the past trend and make projections into the future unreliable. China has experienced two abrupt …

Rural Livelihoods And Vulnerability To Climate Hazards In Ningxia, Northwest China, Yue Li, Yanjuan Wu, Declan Conway, F. Preston, Erda Lin, Jisheng Zhang, Taoming Wang, Yi Jia, Qingzhu Gao, Shifeng, Hui Ju

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

This study addresses how climate affects the livelihoods of people living in agricultural communities in Ningxia, one of the five autonomous regions in China. The analysis formed part of a vulnerability assessment to contribute to the development of an adaptation strategy for the region. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions in nine villages, three located in each of three different agro-ecosystems in the region. The survey results showed that drought has been a major hazard impacting rural livelihoods. Farmers in all three agro-ecosystems showed differing levels of vulnerability; susceptibility was higher, for instance, in the middle arid …

Climate Change And Heatwaves : China’S Responsibility Before The Poor Elderly, José Azoh Barry

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

OBJECTIVE: To address the extent of China’s obligation toward the elderly – a growing segment of the population -- as more vulnerable to heat waves.

METHOD: Data handled are secondary and derived from a non-exhaustive review of a specialized scientific literature. The search for relevant publications was conducted from a multidisciplinary perspective.

RESULTS: Of the various sources of human influences on climate, two major ones related to heat waves appear to be urban designs and greenhouse gas emissions. The urban heat islands effects as local anthropogenic impacts on climate increase the need for air conditioning and demand for power consumption …

Land Use And Climate Change : Effects And Solutions At The Local Level, Mark Henderson

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China is likely already seeing the effects of climate change. Further effects in the form of increased temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels could be catastrophic, making action at all levels an urgent priority. While much attention is rightfully paid to reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels, land management practices account for as much as a quarter of the net increase in greenhouse gasses. In China, urbanization is the most important and tractable phenomenon affecting the landscape, reducing carbon sequestration, as well as locking in transportation patterns that assume increasing fossil fuel use into the future. Developing systems …

Liability For Climate Change : A Decentralized Approach To Long-Term Climate Policy, Detlef Sprinz

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

An international agreement on deep emission reductions is unlikely to materialize in the near future. What can be done if we wish to further an ambitious long-term climate policy goal? This article proposes a liability system that starts with at least one frontrunner and allows itself to be taken to court for the damages related to its emissions. Such a system will be fully upscalable to larger liability pools, and allows the rule of law to prevent dangerous climate change to a reasonable degree. Furthermore, I suggest strict proportionality as a distributional rule to provide powerful incentives to mitigate emissions. …

Do All Roads Lead To Copenhagen? The Case Of China’S Participation In The Post-2012 Climate Change Regime, Ho-Ching Lee

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Climate change is a global challenge and requires a global solution. In late 2007, governments adopted the Bali Roadmap, launching negotiations toward a new global climate agreement. Among nations with large CO2 emissions, only China, sustains a rapid economic growth dependent on the expanded use of carbon-intensive coal. The role of China in post- Kyoto climate negotiations is therefore critical to the international effort to combat climate change and global warming.

In fact, China ratified the UNFCCC in January 1993 and was among the first ten countries to become Convention Parties. Over the years, China has been actively participating in …

Looking Beyond : Changes For Climate Change, Changes For Development, Gerald Schmidt

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

In the climate debate, there is a stalemate when the discussion revolves around other's responsibility based on historical emissions and present (un)willingness to participate in international treaties justified by a necessary focus on development on the one side, and an unwillingness to act if the others do not also do so, based on concern about economic competitiveness, on the other side. The problem arises from a view that sees it as a basic necessity to first develop, get rich enough, and then clean up, as suggested in Kuznet's Curve, and about relative costs of alternative energy and production, respectively. Looking …

Asia-Pacific Partnership On Clean Development And Climate : China And International Climate Policy Beyond Kyoto, Christoph Holtwisch

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate [APP] of Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, USA and their new partner Canada is a new phenomenon in international climate policy and open for enlargement by other interested states. This nonlegally binding sustainable development Partnership connects climate protection and energy security for the first time in an international agreement. As a potential framework for the other 'parallel tracks' to the UN climate regime of Framework Convention on Climate Change [FCCC] and Kyoto Protocol [KP], the APP – which is still by far underfinanced – at its core is a political agreement …

Evaluating Co2 Capture Ready Investment In New-Built Thermal Power Plants In China, Xi Liang, David Reiner, Jon Gibbins, Jia Li

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The total thermal power capacity has grown by 65GW to over 600GW by the end of 2008 (CEC, 2009). Chinese government, industry and academic stakeholders perceive that China will not mandate new plants to be built with carbon dioxide capture and storage systems in the short term and there is little incentive even to contemplate the first steps needed to fit plants with capture equipment (Reiner et al, 2007). Therefore, we evaluate CO2 Capture Ready (CCR) investment, which would enable thermal power plants to be retrofitted to capture CO2 without unnecessary additional costs when the appropriate policy and /or economic …

Sectoral Approach : What Is In It For The Chinese Economy?, Joyashree Roy, Moumita Roy, Shreya Roychowdhury

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

In any international negotiation on climate change close link among science, economics and politics can hardly be ignored. The argument for mitigation in case of long lived stock pollutants can never be rationally based on current growth level. It is a complex situation and any over simplifies approach will further complicate rather than lead to any positive solution. Competitiveness argument, border adjustment, trade barriers on emission intensive goods and services of Annex I countries can hardly be justified even at the current market share in trade, production, consumption. The best way to approach the problem can be to combine domestic …