Distinguished Lecture by Mr David Bornstein:
How To Make Sustainable Change Happen

Around the world, creative people are advancing new models and institutions for tackling social problems more effectively and sustainably than in the past. On 12 November this year, in a celebrated event organized by HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education, famous author David Bornstein brought inspirations on social innovation to Hong Kong from his observations and examination across the globe. Highlighting practical examples from his newest research, he explained how social innovators are advancing system changes today in areas such as education, health care, poverty alleviation, social enterprise, and environmental stewardship.

Listen to the Guru of Social Innovations

The event “Distinguished Lecture by Mr David Bornstein: How To Make Sustainable Change Happen: Lessons from Social Innovators Around the World” was held in celebration of The University of Hong Kong Centenary. Hundreds of professionals from corporations of various scales, government, NGOs, social enterprises, academic institutions, students who cares about making sustainable change in the ever-changing economy gathered at the Asia World Expo to participate in the seminar, meeting David Bornstein in person.

David Bornstein is an author who focuses on social innovation. His writing and speaking about social entrepreneurship has been credited in helping to accelerate the growth of this field globally. He created and co-authors the popular Fixes column in The New York Times Opinionator section. He is the founder of Dowser.org, a website that specializes in solution journalism. His books include How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank, and Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know, as well as a forthcoming book which will highlight some of the key patterns in social innovation that have emerged over the past 20 years.  

Mr. Bornstein has been a central participant in leading public events focusing on social entrepreneurship in Canada , Mexico , the United States ,  France , Spain , Germany , England , Ireland , Switzerland , Colombia , Argentina , Brazil , Singapore , Taiwan and China . His articles and interviews have been published in 15 countries. He has served as a mentor to many social entrepreneurs, advised numerous foundations on strategy, and spoken to 300 audiences over the past six years.

A 100 Years of Heritage, Knowledge and Services

Before the inspiring speech by Mr Bornstein, Dr Darwin Chen, the President of HKU SPACE Alumni, was invited to deliver an opening speech. Dr Chen congratulated on the Centenary celebration of the University of Hong Kong which takes “Heritage, Knowledge, Services” as a theme. He said, “Building on the century of excellence, HKU SPACE, as part of HKU extension arm, seeks to engage our communities while pledging our continued commitment to continuing education in Hong Kong , China and the region. We are excited and looking forward to many more great achievements for our institution in the years to come.”

Dr Chen also expressed his gratitude to Mr Bornstein, as well as Dr Jane Lee and our respondents for supporting this inspiring lecture. He remarked, “In the fast-growing Asian world, there are increasingly pressing urban social challenges in the society that cannot be satisfied by traditional models, and so social innovations are demanded and in need. I am sure Mr Bornstein will inspire us with ideas on how ‘social innovation’ can be embraced in the context of Hong Kong from his observations and detailed research across the globe.”

Emergence of the Citizen Sector

And when the guru of social innovation stepped onto the stage, the overwhelming applause from admiring audience filled the air. Mr Bornstein told us how his heart was warmed by such a positive response. He said, “Knowing that you all have to come a long way to attend this lecture, you must be very motivated and committed to change the world.”

But then when he started to address on the topic of sustainable change, Mr Bornstein listed quite a lot of depressing events that is happening around the world. “Just this morning when I woke up, TV news channel was reporting the death of Mexican Interior Minister, the earthquake in Turkey and of course, the ongoing financial crisis in Europe . This kind of news fills up our heads every single day… We have an enormous range of problems in the world… We have tremendous poverty. We have probably close to a billion and a half people who still don’t have electricity or access to fresh drinking water, exclusion of minorities, people with disabilities, and all sorts of social exclusions.”

Human Creativity is the Core to Sustainability

On the other hand, Mr Bornstein also told us there is another “hidden history” that is taking place now. The emergence of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector may be the most important historical change that occurred at the end of the 20 th Century. About the definition of sustainability, his idea is concise and clear, “When we talk about sustainability, we are actually talking about the capacity of a society to renew itself every day.” He believes that the core to sustainability is human creativity.

According to Mr Bornstein, society needs people who are creative, people who have the skills, the willingness and the love to solve social problems. During the past years when he was a journalist, with job duties to report on problems, he witnessed such a change. “I thought it would be quite impossible to solve the poverty problem in areas such as Bangladesh , until one day I decided to go there and get connected with the Grameen Bank.” He said.

Qualities of Social Entrepreneurship

Grameen Bank, which means village bank, or referred to as the “Bank of the Poor”, has reversed conventional banking practice by created a new system called micro-finance which is based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. The Grameen Bank provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh , without any collateral. Mr Bornstein said, “What I saw in Bangladesh really opened up my eyes. For one thing, it worked! I saw bankers walked into villages, passing through water high up to their knees, in order to get to the poor villagers and provide banking services.” Taking the Grameen Bank as an example, Mr Bornstein tried to define a social entrepreneur as someone who can see over the horizon to an opportunity that no one saw; and is able to mobilize a bunch of people to start that vision.

Extending his views towards the global trends, Mr Bornstein asserted that with our minds united together, the drive to change would be invincible. He said, “Looking at the fall of authoritarian regimes in recent years, you can see that there is a new capacity for citizens to do things that historically they would have been [banned] or in some cases, thrown in jail… [We are also witnessing] the emergence of the highly educated middle class and technology in global media that [enabled] ideas to travel around so quickly.”

Nothing can Stop the Force of United Minds

A friend of his who had the opportunity to ask Mikhail Gorbachev a question: What is the single thing that led to the decline of the Soviet Union ? Gorbachev’s answer is: the Beatles. Mr Bornstein explained, “What did he mean by that? I think he meant that once there is a yearning inside the hearts and minds of the young people around the world to change the world, you cannot resist it… Not even tanks or nuclear weapons can stop it.”

While stating the fact that empathy is essential before we can build up a genuine passion to make the world better, Mr Bornstein talked about how to impart the idea of empathy into the minds of the youths.

Having the Knowledge to Make Choices

He also told us some necessary steps to take if we want to be a social innovator, “The understanding of the history of problem solving in your field is very helpful. You need to understand what the opportunities are and you also understand what mistakes other people have made.”

Wrapping up his speech, Mr Bornstein posed two really important questions for us to think about when making choices in our life: “What are you willing to do without? And what are we not willing to give up?”

If you are taking time to read this, probably you are passionate enough about changing the world and making it a better place to live in. But what is your answer to Mr Bornstein’s questions? Are you prepared to make sacrifices?