Samuel M.Y. Ho, Ph.D.	Anthony K. K.Tong, Ed.D.
Co-Chairperson ACAPP 2014 Organizing Committee Associate Head Department of Applied Social Studies City University of Hong Kong	Co-Chairperson ACAPP 2014Organizing Committee Chairman United Centre of Emotional Health and Positive Living, United Christian Nethersole Community Health Service

We are pleased to announce the 1^st Asia-Pacific Conference on Applied Positive Psychology that will be held in Hong Kong on 9-11 January,2014.  This conference is organized by the Department of Applied Social Studies at the City University of Hong Kong, United Centre of Emotional Health and Positive Living, and Oasis – Centre for Personal Growth and Crisis Intervention under Hospital Authority in Hong Kong, and co-organized by the Department of Clinical Psychology, Kowloon East Cluster, Hospital Authority, Hong Kong and Center of Mental Health Promotion, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (in Beijing)

Positive psychology has been developed rapidly and vigorously as a new psychological discipline in the recent years, firstly in the North America and then all over the world. We think there are three very good reasons for this phenomenal development. Firstly, it is natural human inclination to pursue happiness, fulfillment and well-being, which are the central targets of positive psychology. Secondly, research has demonstrated effective ways and strategies for enhancing happiness and psychological well-being. Thirdly, the building of psychological strengths has important implications for individuals’ ability to face adversity and negative emotions in life.

In the past few years we have organized yearly Applied PositivePsychology Conference in Hong Kong and have received overwhelming success and positive feedback. There is a rapidly increasing interest among academics, helping professionals and agencies in the applications of positive psychologyin a wide variety of domains, including health, education, and social settings. We also notice there is a similar phenomenon in many other Asia-Pacific countries. Therefore, we decided that it is the high time to hold the first Asia-Pacific Applied Positive Psychology Conference in 2014. We want to create a platform for interested professionals to share their wisdom and experiences in applied positive psychology, especially in the Asian cultural context since positive psychology as it has been developed has its obvious western root and bias and therefore cross-cultural exchanges are deemed imminent and important. In this conference we have the honor to invite two prominent scholars and speakers, Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener and Professor Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, to be our keynote speakers. We certainly hope that this conference is just the beginning of a long and meaningful journey of using positive psychology to enhance the well-being of our clients, community and the world.