In each social innovation salon, we will throw out two social challenges for discussion. Here are the social challenges discussed in our previous salons.
March 2009
Social challenge 1: How to provide long term care for
elderly home?
社會議題一：如何給老人院提供長期照顧？
Social challenge 2:
Employment opportunities for unskilled migrant workers in the cities are
limited, how to provide them with education opportunities sustainably?
社會議題二：中國民工的問題，從二級城市到大城市找工作，沒有受過教育或沒有一技之長，如何給他們一個持久性的教育機會？
April 2009
Social challenge 1: How to improve the quality of libraries in rural China?
Why is this important?
Libraries provide a gateway to knowledge for rural population
Background
Most people who live in rural areas lack access to good libraries due to lack of government funding. Libraries that do exist often have poor infrastructure and are not well managed.
Status Quo
Non profits have donated money to rebuild rural libraries. However most resources are put into building hard infrastructures, rather than improving the quality of the libraries. Rural libraries often lack access to good quality books, and librarians lack professional training.
Social Challenge 2: How to engage at-risk youth to positively contribute to the society?
Why is this important?
At-risk youth are on the borderline of being trapped into a vicious cycle of crime and substance abuse.
Background
At risk youth generally are in the age range of 12-18 They often times have dropped out of school, have low levels of education, and come from broken families.
Status Quo
There are several government and non-profit programs targeted at this population, most of them being vocational programs. However, these programs are usually short-term, lack follow-up, and do not teach skills that interest the youth.
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