Catalysing Positive Youth Development: A Qualitative Evaluation of A Cross-Sector Service-Learning Initiative in Food Rescue

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-954-4_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Positive Youth Development; Service-Learning; Food Rescue; Community Engagement; Psychological Empowerments

Abstract

This chapter examines the Sustaining Love Education and Youth Ambassador Programme, a transformative service-learning initiative designed to address two intersecting challenges in Hong Kong: food insecurity and youth psychological challenges. Grounded in Social Practice Theory and Positive Psychology, the programme engaged students in structured, reflective food sustainability work through community partnerships. A practice-based qualitative evaluation, drawing on written reflections and semi-structured interviews, explored the programme’s impact on student development. Thematic analysis revealed four areas of growth: (1) awakening awareness and empathy toward food justice and marginalised communities; (2) building communicative and professional capacities, particularly in facilitation and teamwork; (3) cultivating self-efficacy and resilience, including greater confidence and emotional strength; and (4) integrating purpose and agency through identity exploration and narrative reflection. These findings affirm the potential of theory-informed, community-based education to cultivate co-constituted growth—empowering both students and communities through reciprocal, emotionally grounded learning. The chapter concludes with implications for service-learning pedagogy, youth programming, and socially engaged education.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - JoJo T. C. Lai
AU  - Katrina Y. C. Cheng
AU  - Kathleen H. M. Chim
AU  - Kelvin M. K. Yuen
AU  - Kelvin W. H. Wang
AU  - Jonathan Y. H. Chan
AU  - Yoyo K. Y. Wong
AU  - Astor M. Y. Wong
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/29
TI  - Catalysing Positive Youth Development: A Qualitative Evaluation of A Cross-Sector Service-Learning Initiative in Food Rescue
BT  - Proceedings of the Positive Psychology 2.0 International Conference 2025 (PP 2.0 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 225
EP  - 242
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-954-4_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-954-4_17
ID  - Lai2025
ER  -