Page 20 - Research and Impact Newsletter Issue 4

17 Humanities in Innovations
LEI Platform
It was a ground breaking move of the University to set up the Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI) - a collaborative platform to develop students into social entrepreneurs in a liberal arts context and to cultivate an entrepreneurial culture on campus. Unlike conventional entrepreneurship centres working on inventions of science and technology for the development of commercial products, the LEI well distinguishes itself in what it nurtures students to:
• create holistic and practical solutions to real-world problems with a human-centred focus, so that there is the humanistic touch to fill possible gaps in pure technology considerations;
• innovate together with the elderly in intergenerational projects for the ageing population, so as to (i) move beyond the traditional thought that entrepreneurship is only the young people’s business, (ii) unlock the creativity of the aged, and (iii) develop products and services that have the participation of the potential beneficiaries, and for their actual needs.
Entrepreneurship at Lingnan echoes what many liberal arts universities like to quote: “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.” (Steve Jobs: “Technology Alone Is Not Enough”)
Facilities and Infrastructure
L.E.I. Beta (β) Lab
Collaborative work space is available on campus for a creative and dynamic community of potential social innovators and entrepreneurs to incubate their projects/ start-ups.
Social Innovation Hub (SIH)
The Hub has been established in collaboration with member institutions of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance (GLAA), and the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities (AALAU) as initiated by Lingnan. It will be a pioneer in Asia to foster students’ competence in creativity, STEM knowledge and spirit of entrepreneurship.