尊敬的香港特别行政区政务司司长陈国基先生、各位嘉宾、一丹奖基金会的朋友们，我非常荣幸欢迎各位莅临2024年一丹奖颁奖典礼。
今晚，我们齐聚一堂，表彰杰出的教育创变者。他们的工作帮助下一代把握机遇，应对未来前所未有的挑战。
因为世界瞬息万变——教育也须转型才能与时俱进。
设立以来，一丹奖每年颁发两个奖项：一丹教育研究奖、一丹教育发展奖。两个奖项相辅相成。教育实证为实践提供依据，对政策制定带来深远影响。有效的教育举措也有助于拓宽教育机会，为教育研究提供新视角。
一丹奖正是在日新月异的世界中应运而生。一丹奖提名不设主题，欢迎个人和团队进行提名，为得奖者提供可灵活使用的项目资金，联通教育网络，善用社群的力量，集思广益。一言以贯之，愿景使然，一丹奖既应变，也求变。
毕竟社会进步，归根结底靠教育。随着今年的四位得奖者加入一丹奖社群，我们见证了他们的工作如何使我们距离更美好的未来更近一步。
我衷心祝贺沃尔夫冈·卢茨（Wolfgang Lutz）教授。卢茨教授的工作展示了教育改变生活、改写你我共同未来的强大力量，点明了教育对于充分实现人类潜能画龙点睛的作用。作为一个关怀世界的人口研究学家，卢茨教授毫不吝啬地分享其研究成果与数据，为广大学者的研究分析工作提供新方向，是以合作推动进步的典范。更重要的是，卢茨教授的工作为教育在个人及社会福祉方面发挥的重要作用提供了实证支持，为如何以教育应对气候变化提供了启示。
我也衷心祝贺来自“战火中的儿童联盟”（War Child Alliance）的马克·乔丹斯（Mark Jordans）教授、玛尔瓦·扎尔（Marwa Zahr）和卢克·斯坦纳德（Luke Stannard），你们是一丹奖成立以来的第二支获奖团队。你们所代表的“学不容缓”（Can’t Wait to Learn）项目将教育送到学习条件最为艰难的儿童身边。课程内容以所在国家课程大纲为基础，与当地伙伴、教师联手开发，使每个学生都能获得立足本地文化、适合自己、生动有趣的学习体验。“学不容缓”有效培养孩子们可终身受用的基础技能，帮助他们未来在逆境中也迎难而上。
今晚，我们共同见证2024年得奖者在这个隆重的颁奖典礼正式获颁一丹奖。同时，特别感谢香港特别行政区行政长官李家超先生向2024年一丹奖得奖者发来祝贺。
女士们，先生们。
最后，这里非常乐意分享一个小故事。今年十月，我与家人出行至一个野外湖边，没有了城市密集的灯光，空中一颗拖着长长尾巴的彗星，肉眼可见。这颗彗星是一颗长周期彗星，绕太阳运行一周需要80,660年，名字叫 C/2023 A3 紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星。
面对八万年遇到的彗星，“前不见古人，后不见来者”。我一再感到，人类在时间和空间面前，是多么的渺小；宇宙万物与人类又是共同组成在一个生态系统里，各行各业的每一个人，其人性光辉是多么的伟大。此刻，我与太太凝望着浩瀚无际，吾愿文化、科技、政经、社会，以及教育都能带领人类社会走向和平。
谢谢大家。
陈一丹
一丹奖创办人
The Honorable KK Chan, the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, esteemed guests, and friends of the Yidan Prize Foundation, I am so pleased to welcome you to our 2024 Yidan Prize Awards Ceremony.
Tonight, we come together to recognize exceptional people whose work is equipping the next generations to meet unprecedented challenges and grasp opportunities we have yet to fully realize.
Because the world is changing faster than we ever imagined — and education must transform to keep up.
Since the beginning, we have awarded two prizes annually: one for education research and one for education development. They work in harmony. Evidence must inform and shape policy and practice. And effective interventions open access to education as well as new avenues to explore.
Indeed, the Yidan Prize is made in a changing world. We don’t limit ourselves to a theme. The prize is open to individuals and groups. We offer flexible funding, foster networks, and harness the power of the collective. So that together, we can not only endure change, but encourage it, as driven by our mission.
Education, after all, is the driving force for social progress. And as I welcome four new members to our laureate community, it’s clear how strongly this is reflected in their work, which moves us closer to a brighter, fairer world.
To Professor Wolfgang Lutz, I offer my congratulations and admiration. Wolfgang, your research has demonstrated the power of education to change lives and enrich our collective future. Your work means we can join the dots between education and unlocking human potential. As a demographer who is deeply invested in understanding how we build a brighter future together, you share data freely with other researchers as part of your commitment to collaboration and progress. Crucially, you have given us compelling evidence for how education is at the center of our well-being and global sustainable development—and this includes adapting to climate change.
I would like to extend my congratulations and appreciation to our second ever laureate team of Professor Mark Jordans, Marwa Zahr, and Luke Stannard from War Child Alliance. Mark, Marwa, Luke: you and your team’s work through the ‘Can’t Wait to Learn’ intervention reaches children living in some of the most difficult contexts in the world. Thanks to the intervention, children can learn in an engaging, effective way that speaks to their own culture and experiences, developed in partnership with local partners and educators, and in line with their national curriculum. Children develop vital foundational skills they will build on for life, as they flourish in incredibly challenging circumstances.
Tonight, we share this moment of celebration as our 2024 laureates officially receive their awards. I would also like to thank the Honorable John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, who sends his congratulations to our 2024 laureates for their remarkable achievements.
Ladies and Gentlemen，
I will conclude by sharing a short, recent story. In October, my family and I went for a walk by a lake. Far from the city lights, we saw a comet with a long tail in the sky. That comet is called C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS. It takes 80,660 years to orbit the sun — which means it may be another 80,660 years before it is back in our skies again. As a poem goes, “No ancients before me, Nor comers from behind.” Human is small in the face of time and space. Humble as we are, the very best of human nature can shine from any person, from any background. So in that moment when my wife and I gazed into the limitless sky, I wished for peace of the world, through culture, science, technology, politics, economy, society, and through education.
Thank you.
Charles CHEN Yidan
Founder, Yidan Prize
