With the theme "Social Development Confronting Global Challenges: Action, Policy, Planning and Social Work Intervention", the Global Social Sciences Conference 2014 was held on campus from 10 to 12 April. It attracted more than 350 participants from 11 countries and regions around the world.

Officiating at the opening ceremony on 10 April were Professor Frank Fu, Associate Vice-President; Professor Atara Sivan, Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) of the Faculty of Social Sciences; Professor Petrus Ng, Head of the Department of Social Work; Professor Cheng Li-chen, Chairman of the Department of Social Work of National Taiwan University; and Professor Chen Shuqiang, Executive Deputy Dean of the School of Social Work of China Youth University for Political Sciences.

Delivering his address at the opening ceremony, Professor Fu said globalisation had been a focal point of concern for the social science community in the past decades, and that the conference provided participants with a precious opportunity to understand the consequences of globalisation. He said in addition to four keynote speeches, the conference also attracted paper presentations from academics, researchers and practitioners in the disciplines of social sciences and social work from around the world who shared with participants their professional expertise, research findings and work experience on the issue.

Four renowned scholars from the UK were invited to deliver keynote speeches. The three round table discussion sessions were on Globalisation and Housing Issues, Social Work with Women in Chinese Communities: Development and Challenges, and A Review of the Development of Social Work Education in Chinese Communities. The 25 parallel sessions addressed issues such as social welfare and disadvantaged groups, social changes and human rights, crises and social responses as well as innovative practices and approaches in social work. A total of 128 papers were presented.

The conference was jointly organised by the Department of Social Work of HKBU, the Department of Social Work of National Taiwan University and the School of Social Work of China Youth University for Political Sciences. It was supported by more than 20 local and international non-government organisations and sponsored by the Faculty of Social Sciences of HKBU and the HKBU Social Work Alumni Association Limited.