Bulletin

Fourth Round of applications to the Sustainable Development Fund

By the closing date of the fourth round of applications on 31 August 2006, the SDU received 39 applications applying for total grants exceeding $79 million. Of these applications, 13 were from schools or academic institutions, 17 from non-government organizations or community groups, 8 from individuals and 1 from business organization.

For this round of applications, the following priority areas suggested by EPSC should receive particular consideration:

(a) Publicity that is consistent with the SDF objectives and includes a strong element of community involvement

This may include projects that can significantly raise public awareness of the three pillars of SD, (ie. Economic development, social harmony and protection of the natural environment) and that involves wide community involvement.

(b) Making a measurable impact on SD in Hong Kong and creating a legacy for sustainable practices within the community

This may include projects that establish best practice or model cases to demonstrate reproducible steps that can be taken in the wider community or within a segment of the community towards more sustainable mode of development.

(c) Capacity building and collaboration across various sectors to raise SD awareness and promote public knowledge of and capacity to practise SD principles.

This may include projects that significantly strengthen the role and build capacity of different sectors of Hong Kong society to contribute towards SD. These "sectors" may include but are not limited to women organizations; children and youth organizations; local authorities; NGOs; workers and trade unions; business and industry; science and technology communities.

For (a), (b) and (c) above, issues drawn from Agenda 21 including but not limited to the following areas can be considered:

  • Integrated planning
  • Changing consumption patterns
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Conservation of biodiversity
  • Urban living
  • Social justice
  • Priority areas for the 2nd SD strategy engagement process, ie. Population Policy and Better Air Quality

(d) Variations on sustainability reporting covering a wide spectrum of issues and perspectives (such as sectoral or thematic reporting), and do not confine to territory-wide or district-based reporting.

A territory-wide and district-based sustainability reporting project was supported under the third round of the SDF applications. For this round of the SDF applications, applicants may want to focus on sectoral or thematic reporting rather than broad territorial reporting to avoid duplication with the on-going project. The objective is to develop a sustainability reporting tool to help illustrate progress of sustainable practice and raise public awareness of related issues in themes/sectors/areas such as production and consumption, community services, tourism, building and construction etc..

Notwithstanding the above suggestions, applications that are generally consistent with the overall SDF objectives would also be welcome.

Four projects were approved under the fourth round of SDF applications, with a total grant of $1.95 million. These four approved projects are -

  • Developing a Sustainable Lifestyle - an Interactive Educational Drama by Bravo Theatre: $499,600 over a period of 6 months
  • Hong Kong Green Map - Towards a Sustainable City Life by Ms Chan Yuen Lai and Mr So Kwok Kin: $247,050 over a period of 9 months
  • 2Rs Express by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Fong Shu Chuen Social Service Building: $1,100,000 over a period of 24 months
  • Sustainable Urban Regeneration: Building an Integrative Community by the China Business Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: $113,000 over a period of 7 mont