Transnational and Transdisciplinary Lessons of COVID 19 From the Perspective of Risk and Management

This book is the fruit of an exceptional collaboration within and beyond Hong Kong Baptist University. It is drawn from the special issue of the Journal of Risk and Financial Management on “Transnational and Transdisciplinary lessons from COVID 19 from the Perspective of Risk and Management”. Many of the articles reproduced here were first presented as papers at the international conference organized on this theme at Hong Kong Baptist University on 20-21 May 2021. Using the related prisms of medical and social ethics, health and well-being, risk and resilience and trust and transparency panelists were invited to address questions in relation to the main lessons to be drawn from the COVID 19 crisis (in the medical, scientific, physiological, political, economic, educational, international, cultural, environmental, legal or other domains). Experts from a broad range of academic disciplines (health, sports sciences, political science, law, geography, business, media and communication and international relations) participated in the conference. There was, moreover, a very real international dimension to the proceedings, which is captured in this book. The transnational dimension of the symposium was reflected in the conference themes, as well by the participation of overseas speakers from the UK, France, Australia and Singapore, as well as a range of stakeholders from outside of academia (for example, the European Union Office of Hong Kong and Macao).

The conference Transnational and Transdisciplinary Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (giving rise to this special issue) was supported by a grant from the PROCORE-France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong (Reference F-HKBU205/20), as well as by the Hung Hin Shiu Charitable Foundation, by the Hong Kong Baptist University Research Committee (Project 165234), and by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung (Hong Kong). We thank these funders for their generous support. We also thank the European Union office of Hong Kong and Macao, which hosted a reception and provided speakers.

The spirit of the book (and the papers in the special issue) is to address the transdisciplinary challenges posed by the Covid 19 pandemic. Responding to existential dilemmas, the Covid 19 pandemic calls for a major transdisciplinary research effort that necessarily combines several levels of empirical analysis and methodological tools and bridges distinct academic and scientific traditions. The main sections of the book provide specific insights from medical and social sciences, health and well-being, politics and society and international relations. Though the chapters are framed in terms of distinct disciplinary perspectives and traditions, the overarching spirit of the book to open up received wisdoms and paradigms to challenges from scholars working in different academic disciplines and traditions. The editors sincerely hope that they have met this ambition. We acknowledge all the presenters and participants of the conference “Transnational and transdisciplinary lessons of COVID-19 from the perspective of risk and management” as well as to the editorial board of the Journal of Risk and Financial Management in general and to Kaia LV and Scarlett Liu in particular, who expedited affairs in an efficient and courteous manner.