A preview of an exhibition of marine life photographs will be available at the cocktail area, including the winner of the 2023 Hong Kong Underwater Photo Competition organized by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government, and the winner photography of the "Underwater" category of the 1st World Ocean Day Photo Competition organized by the United Nations by Mr. Alan Lo. Alan Lo is a photographer based in Hong Kong, who expresses his curiosity to the underwater world through various approaches. Apart from winning the 1st Annual World Oceans Day Competition in 2014, which we will have the pleasure to display at the Night of Ideas, he has notably been highly honoured for the Nature Best Photography Asia in 2015, has won the Scuba Diving magazine's 2014 and 2013 photo contests and has won the 1st Prize for the Indonesia World Underwater photo contest in 2013. In 2024, two of his photographs were awarded at the Monochrome Awards.

A Virtual Reality VR experience created by Dr. Cindy Lam, Assistant Professor of Science Education from HKUST's Department of Ocean Science will be featured with two headsets available. This marine VR game creates an immersive learning experience, allowing learners to explore realistic underwater environments that would otherwise to be inaccessible or impractical to visit in real life. With lifelike 3D models and scenes of marine habitats at HKUST, players can actively explore coral communities, and deeper water ecosystems, rather than passively observing them. The project incorporates interactive gameplay, adaptive learning, and built-in assessment tools, aiming to inspire further marine research and promote environmental stewardship among students and the public. With this ground breaking initiative, the marine VR game could make ocean science more accessible, engaging and impactful in the society. These activities will invite participants to think about ocean protection in the context of the upcoming third United Nations Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France where world leaders and major stakeholders as well as companies will gather to discuss on ways to save our ocean for a sustainable future.

A brief dance performance excerpt by elderly individuals living with Parkinson's disease, participants in the Jockey Club Dance Well Project presented by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The dancers will express their reflections on this initiative and discuss the transformative impact of dance on their experience with Parkinson's, highlighting its physical and psychosocial benefits. We hope through this launch event on ageing to plant the seeds for new ideas to grow within the audience in the perspective of the upcoming event dedicated to Ageing in October 2025.

An excerpt of the Hong Kong movie "All Shall Be Well" will be screened with a presentation by the filmmaker, Mr. Ray Yeung. In this session, participants and the public will be invited to reflect how same-sex couples continue to be constrained and face discriminations and how to progress towards equality regardless of their gender orientation. 

The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China, created in 1991, is a research institute jointly funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). The only European Research Centre in China entirely devoted to the study of contemporary China in the field of social sciences and humanities, it studies the political, economic, social and cultural changes in the Contemporary (post-1949) People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

By registering for this program, you agree to and understand that you may be photographed, recorded/videotaped and/or interviewed during the program, for purposes relating to this program, promotional purposes, and/or for other work of Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK), including for archival purposes. By registering, you are granting ASHK a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and unrestricted right to use, reproduce, publish and/or display your image (film or photographs) and/or voice (video recording, sound clip or other formats), in any manner or media (including in websites, in newspapers, on social media platforms, in a report or on the television and radio), and the right to sub-license such rights, at ASHK's discretion, to other global centers of Asia Society and other partner organizations/vendors with which ASHK works. If you wish to access your image/sound clip and/or no longer want ASHK and/or our partner organizations/vendors to use your image/ sound clip, please email us at programhk@asiasociety.org.hk. It is the responsibility of the program participant to communicate to our staff at the venue his/her preference. However, we cannot remove content that has already been published. By registering, you agree that published communications can continue in circulation and content may be stored by us and by our photographer in historical archives to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations. 

通過登記參加此活動，你已同意並理解你可能在活動期間被拍攝照片、錄影及/或採訪，並用作與活動相關、宣傳及／或香港亞洲協會中心其他工作的用途(包括作存檔用途)。 通過登記參加此活動，你同意永久授權予香港亞洲協會中心非專屬、免版稅、無限制，以及以任何方式或媒介(包括網站、報章、社交媒體、出版物、電視和 電台等)，使用、複製、發佈及/或展出你的影像（錄像／照片）及／或聲音（影片攝錄、錄音聲帶或其他形式），並同意香港亞洲協會中心可根據其決定授權其他亞洲協會中心以及亞洲協會中心的夥伴團體／合作單位使用。如果你希望查閱你的影像／聲音檔，及／或不希望香港亞洲協會中心及／或我們的夥伴團體／合作單位使用你的影像／聲音檔，請電郵至 programhk@asiasociety.org.hk 與我們聯絡。活動參加者有責任向我們在場的工作人員提出其意願。不過，內容一旦發布便不可移除。通過登記參加此活動，你同意已發表的內容可以繼續流傳，而收集到的材料在適用的法律及法規容許的情況下可能會一直存檔於香港亞洲協會中心以及香港亞洲協會中心攝影師的資料庫。