Alumni UK Grant Programme 2026–27: Selected projects in China

Project lead: Qi Ai, graduated from the University of Nottingham and University of Keele

Theme: Inclusion, Reducing Inequality & Empowerment

Project description: this project aims to make cinema more accessible and inclusive for people with sight loss in Jinan, China. Working closely with visually impaired audiences, the team will produce audio-described versions of films for which screening rights have been secured, develop and test an affordable mobile app to support access to these films in cinemas, and organise shared screenings where visually impaired and sighted audiences can enjoy films together. By bringing together existing facilities, film production expertise, digital technology and community participation, the project will test a practical, low-cost model for inclusive cinema-going. The findings and experience will inform future efforts to expand access to film and cultural activities in other communities.

Project lead: Shuyun Cao, graduated from the University of London and University College London

Theme: Inclusion, Reducing Inequality & Empowerment

Project description: Climbing in Sign aims to make climbing more accessible and welcoming for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people in China. Launching in Shanghai, it will bring Deaf and hearing climbers together, nurture Deaf leaders, and equip gym staff with practical skills in inclusive coaching and communication. Participants will co-create a Chinese Sign Language climbing glossary covering techniques and visual safety signals, alongside an open-access, bilingual capacity-building toolkit to help practitioners and organisations across the sector put inclusion into practice. An online exchange with UK Deaf and paraclimbing communities will foster cross-cultural learning. As part of the broader Climb to Care initiative, the project aims to grow a sustainable Deaf-led climbing community and strengthen the sector’s capacity for lasting inclusion across China.

Project lead: Ziqi Jiang, graduated from the University of Edinburgh 

Theme: Climate Action & Sustainability, Inclusion, Reducing Inequality & Empowerment

Project description: Inspired by William Morris's utopian novel "News from Nowhere", British ecological theatre practices, and previous climate storytelling projects with disabled women, this project will develop a new disability-inclusive ecological theatre work in China. Drawing on documentary and storytelling materials, the project will explore climate change, accessibility and ecological futures from disability perspectives. Leyi Theatre artists will take part in accessible theatre workshops, rehearsals and collaborative script development, bringing their embodied experiences into the creative process. The project will culminate in public performances, creating space for disabled artists to shape climate narratives and for audiences to imagine more inclusive ecological futures.

Project lead: Dr Kui Liu, graduated from Cardiff University and University of Southampton

Theme: Climate Action & Sustainability

Project description: GroundWise will help young professionals in Shandong, China, understand how extreme heat, drought, intense rainfall and changing soil moisture can affect underground electricity cables. Building on research from the UK, the project will turn specialist knowledge into an accessible bilingual climate-risk screening toolkit. Through interactive workshops and practical case studies, the project will support early-career engineers and senior undergraduate or postgraduate students to identify potential risks and propose proportionate ways to strengthen infrastructure resilience. It will also share the toolkit and lessons through open resources and a public webinar, aiming to support better-informed infrastructure decisions and build a peer network for continued learning and collaboration.

Project lead: Tsoi Wing Lee, graduated from the University of The West of England, Bristol

Theme: Inclusion, Reducing Inequality & Empowerment

Project description: Most career education materials in Hong Kong assume one route: secondary school, then university. Young people heading somewhere else, such as vocational study, get little from them. The gap is wider for those from ethnic minority or low-income backgrounds, whose schools and youth services often cannot afford better resources. Even students who do go to university are rarely asked why. This project will bring together 12 to 15 frontline practitioners from NGOs, schools and community organisations to learn design thinking and co-create a career exploration tool that starts from young people’s own circumstances and helps them work out which path suits them and why. It will be tested at a free public event, revised, and released as a free bilingual download.