The new School of Governance and Policy is training policymakers and managers who can navigate uncertainty and build international collaborations to address the complex challenges of today’s world. When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared at Davos in January that the world order was experiencing a rupture, the response was not of shock but recognition. It pointed to the need for a new approach and new mindset for solving global problems. HKU’s new School of Governance and Policy is answering that need. “We are trying to fill a gap where we see a world with increasing polarisation, distrust of the public sector, and concerns about the quality of governance. These issues are arising not only in individual nations but worldwide. With our School, we see an opportunity to be a global hub to address some of these major concerns,” said the The Master’s programme will include core courses on both geopolitics and financial and economic issues. Students, who will be drawn from a range of disciplines and countries, will also take electives from across the University, anything from public health to AI governance, and School’s Director, Professor Kenneth Wong, who is also the Kerry Group Professor in Public Policy. Professor Wong joined HKU in September 2025, attracted by the School’s unique interdisciplinary structure which he feels is essential for the times. The School is a new joint venture of the Faculties of Business and Economics, Social Sciences, and Law, offering a signature Master of Governance and Policy degree this September to train leaders and managers to tackle challenging global issues, such as climate change and trade relations. “Oftentimes, schools of public policy are driven primarily by political analysis. But future generations of policy leaders will need to fully engage across different specialities and sectors because policy challenges are getting more complex and more complicated. It’s not like the old days, when you had a single, silver-bullet solution,” he said. “We need to think about reconfiguring and creating new, more stable sets of rules going forward.” Educating leaders HKU Bulletin | May 2026 Teaching and Learning 32 33 Professor Kenneth Wong (left) met with renowned digital and communications expert Sree Sreenivasan (right) to explore innovative ideas for the new Master of Governance and Policy programme. go overseas to learn from policy practitioners on-site. A hands-on capstone project will require them to work with a government, profit or non-profit agency at the local or international level and produce a usable policy report or instrument. Students will also come away with an understanding of how to implement policies and new initiatives and engage with stakeholders across different fields and points of view. “There are a lot of organisations doing international community work that makes a huge difference, such as the Red Cross and international refugee agencies, but they lack a stable supply of good policy managers and analysts. Our programme will prepare students for that kind of work,” he said. Plans are also underway to offer a doctoral programme from 2027 for leaders with 10 or more years’ experience managing an organisation or agency, so they can broaden their skills and knowledge and become strategic leaders. For instance, someone leading a housing agency would deepen their understanding of commerce, transportation and other policy areas that affect housing. An executive training programme is also planned for practitioners in government and the profit and nonprofit sectors so they can tap into the School’s expertise in areas such as economic planning, governance and sustainability. Government officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will likely be a first target, but the aim is to be open to the world. A two-week Summer Institute is also being launched this summer for undergraduates from Hong Kong and elsewhere to receive an intensive introduction to the School’s work. Underscoring all these initiatives is a commitment to bring experts Open dialogue from outside the University and from a variety of perspectives to share their views and promote discussion. “We want to be an international hub, a bridge between East and West, and create public space for open dialogue on challenging issues. We feel this can be a very important forum and learning opportunity,” Professor Wong said. Some of that engagement will build on the work of two centres now housed in the School – the Asia Global Institute and the Centre on Contemporary China and the World, which have been bringing in fellows and conducting research on global issues. Key areas of research focus going forward will be global governance, cross-sector collaboration, policy impact, ethical and philosophical issues, and comparative and global perspectives. The local perspective is also emphasised because that is where most people experience the impact of policy decisions. Professor Wong sees Hong Kong as the ideal place to pursue this research, given its location in the world’s largest region both economically and population-wise. Born in Hong Kong but educated and previously based in the US, he is excited by the opportunity to share his deep East-West understanding and perspectives. “There are very few places in the world with Hong Kong’s advantages and assets. I think being in HKU really puts our School in a unique position to do work that makes a real contribution to the policy world,” he said. We are trying to fill a gap where we see a world with increasing polarisation, distrust of the public sector, and concerns about the quality of governance. Professor Kenneth Wong Preparing for the New World Order The School of Governance and Policy held its Inaugural Week in April 2026, featuring thought leaders, scholars and practitioners from around the world in a series of open dialogues and talks.
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