Bulletin

Sixth Round of applications to the Sustainable Development Fund

By the closing date of the sixth round of applications on 23 September 2008, the SDF Secretariat received 38 applications applying for total grants exceeding $37 million. Of these applications, 4 were from schools or academic institutions, 8 from non-government organizations or community groups, 14 from individuals, 7 from private organizations and 5 from professional organizations or concern groups.

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

(a) Building a sustainable community

This may include projects that can help establish a sustainable and functional community, through, for example, community participation, creation of mutual help network, conservation and preservation of cultural heritage, urban regeneration and community planning, promotion of local economy, building harmonious neighbourhood, local agenda for sustainability, etc.

(b) Promoting sustainable lifestyle or practice

This may include projects that help promoting sustainable practices in our daily lives in areas such as better air quality, urban living space, solid waste reduction, renewable energy, corporate social responsibility, conservation of biodiversity, healthy ageing, elderly participation in voluntary work, etc.

(c) Sustainability reporting by industry/sector

This may include projects that focus on sectoral or thematic reporting rather than broad territorial reporting. The objective is to develop a sustainability reporting tool to help illustrate progress of sustainable practice and raise public awareness of related issues in industries/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.

Seven projects were approved under the sixth round of SDF applications, with a total grant of $7.9 million. These 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
• "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
• "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
• "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
• "Sustainable Seafood School Catering Programme" by World Wide Fund for Nature of Hong Kong : $1,277,680 over a period of 24 months
• "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
• "LOHAS Garden@Sai Kung Community" by Sai Kung District Community Centre : $958,420 over a period of 24 months