Digital Storytelling Academy for the Sustainable

Programme Code: ACT260505
Academic Criteria:
– Level of Study: S.2-5 / Grade 8-11 / Year 9-12 students
– English Requirement: Applicants are expected to meet the English language proficiency requirement, with an IELTS score of 6.5 or an equivalent qualification.

Programme Dates: July 20 – 24, 2026 (Monday to Friday)
Programme Time: 
– Day 1 (July 20): 9:30am – 4:00pm (HKT)
– Day 2 & 3 (July 21 & 22): 9:30am – 5:00pm (HKT)
– Day 4 (July 23): 9:30am – 1:30pm (HKT)
– Day 5 (July 24): 9:30am – 4:00pm (HKT)
Non-refundable Application Fee: HKD 100
Programme Fee: HKD 14,000
– For HKU Academy Members will receive an exclusive scholarship of HKD 4,000, which will be automatically deducted from the Programme Fee upon application.
– For Non-Members we will encourage you to apply as soon as possible to secure a 5% Early-bird discount before February 15, 2026
Application Deadline: 
– Non-local Students: March 31, 2026 (Tuesday)
– Local Students: May 31, 2026 (Sunday)
Delivery Mode: Face-to-Face

Programme Overview:
Digital Storytelling Academy for the Sustainable is a 5-day intensive programme revolving around United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to enhance language and communication among high-ability secondary school students through digital technologies. At the core of the programme is digital storytelling (DST) which puts students at the centre of learning by giving them much ownership and agency of their final creative product. By adopting a content-language integrated curriculum and a multimodal perspective towards communication, the programme stands at the intersection of traditional, visual and digital literacies to encourage advocacy for sustainability.

This programme primarily aims to give students an opportunity to research into a prominent issue of their choice under the SDGs and empower them for a voice. The programme uses digital storytelling as a focal point to contextualise research, writing, speaking, and visual and digital literacies in a creative process. It focuses on real-life sustainability issues that are frequently ill-defined and complex, which demand students to work in groups to read selected journal articles and research online. They will then write scripts, create storyboards, source and/ or shoot footage, record narrations, and edit and share their videos to drive impacts among their peers and members of the public. Final products will be displayed online to extend students’ voices for social benefits. The horizon, and communication and technical skills acquired by students will prepare them for admission into Bachelor of Arts (Humanities and Digital Technologies), Bachelor of Social Sciences, and other related undergraduate programmes at HKU.

Learning Outcomes:

On completing the programme, students will be able to:

1. Research into a prominent SDG topic of interest and develop corresponding content to inform their choice of target audience about broader global issues, or those from the local community in Hong Kong, and to offer advice; 
2. Demonstrate enhanced reading, writing and speaking skills through reading journal articles and producing the digital story; and 
3. Demonstrate enhanced visual and digital literacies through the authentic use of hardware and software tools for capturing and editing video and audio.