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Seven new community and school-based initiatives were approved under the Sustainable Development Fund to promote public awareness and adoption of the principles of sustainable development (SD), a spokesman for the Secretariat for the fund said today (March 5).
These projects show a clear integration of the key SD elements, including community involvement, social cohesion, environmental awareness and economic development, in a balanced and practical way and will last from 17 to 36 months. A total of $7.9 million was granted by the fund this time round, which was around $630,000 higher than the last round.
The seven approved projects are:
* "Education for Sustainable Development in Tertiary Education" by Environmental Studies Programme, Lingnan University: $484,190 over a period of 17 months. The project aims at producing a set of teaching and learning modules on SD for tertiary education, the contents of which are Hong Kong-focused, in printable and web-based format.
* "Sustainable Development Roundtable for Central and Western District: Creating the infrastructure for Community Participation and Promoting Sustainable Development Concepts" by Kadoorie Institute, The University of Hong Kong: $491,735 over a period of 18 months. The project aims to establish a roundtable for the Central and Western District for community participation to draw up the local SD agenda, foster partnerships, and initiate SD-related actions through interviews and discussion meetings with relevant stakeholders.
* "Preparing Students to Embrace Corporate Sustainability, Bridging the Gap between High Schools and the Business Sector" by Business Environment Council: $1,784,400 over a period of 30 months. The project functions as a bridge between the education and business sectors in introducing the concept and practice of corporate sustainability to high school students through seminars and company visits to corporations practising corporate sustainability.
* "Public Participation in the Sustainable City Development: Starting from the Community" by The Centre of Architectural Research for Education, Elderly, Environment and Excellence Ltd (CARE): $1,281,800 over a period of 18 months. The project aims at promoting a public participatory approach in sustainable community planning and city development through the Public Participation Design Programme to be implemented by 10 teams, whose members are representatives from different community groups.
* "Sustainable Seafood School Catering Programme" by World Wide Fund for Nature of Hong Kong: $1,277,680 over a period of 24 months. The project is an educational programme aimed at raising primary school students' awareness of marine conservation specifically related to the ecological footprint of seafood consumption. It also aims to change students' behaviour towards sustainable consumption of marine resources and cultivate their sense of a sustainable lifestyle.
* "Striding Forward - A Tai Po Sustainable Community Project by Women" by Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres: $1,628,300 over a period of 36 months. The project aims to empower women and strengthen their role in promoting and building a green, people-oriented and sustainable community in Tai Po.
* "LOHAS Garden@Sai Kung Community" by Sai Kung District Community Centre: $958,420 over a period of 24 months. The project aims at promoting "Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability" (LOHAS) in Sai Kung district through a great variety of promotional and educational activities.
"Among the seven approved projects, four are community projects involving participation from different sectors of the community, with a view to promoting SD principles and practices as well as drawing up the local SD agenda; two are school-based projects to raise students' awareness of corporate sustainability and sustainable seafood consumption, and the other is for designing and developing teaching modules on SD for tertiary education," the spokesman said.
"We believe that they will become a project model for wider dissemination of the SD message and for creating a greater impact on the general public," he added.
The $100 million fund was set up in 2003 to support community initiatives for promoting the concept of SD. Practical projects and educational programmes that help raise public awareness of the principles of SD and encourage sustainable practices are encouraged to apply to the fund. The latest call for applications was the sixth time, with a total of 38 proposals received.
"This brings the total number of approved projects that have received grants from the fund to 33 and the amount involved to $29.7 million. This is an encouraging step forward in promoting SD in Hong Kong," the spokesman said.
The fund will be open for the next round of applications in mid 2009. Applications from non-government and community organisations as well as individuals are welcome.
Details of the approved projects in the latest round of applications, as well as projects funded by the scheme, can be accessed at www.susdev.gov.hk.
Ends/Thursday, March 5, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:09
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