Bulletin

Seventh Round of Applications to the Sustainable Development Fund

By the closing date of the seventh round of applications on 30 October 2009, the SDF Secretariat received 66 applications applying for total grants exceeding $114 million. Of these applications, 11 were from schools or academic institutions, 26 from non-government organizations or community groups, 25 from individuals and 4 from private organizations.

For this round of applications, the following priority 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, sustainable built environment, low carbon footprint, 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.

Five projects were approved under the seventh round of SDF applications, with a total grant of $5.4 million. These five approved projects are -

• Sustainable Development of Heritage and Cultural Project at Old District of Yau Ma Tei by Hulu Culture Limited : $1,160,200 over a period of 24 months
• CSR Guide for SMEs in Hong Kong by CSR Asia : $761,948 over a period of 12 months
• Guide to 'Better Corporate Social Responsibility' for Apparel Industry - SME Version by the Clothing Industry Training Authority : $670,000 over a period of 18 months
• Customized Sustainability Framework to Assist SMEs to Achieve Sustainability by the Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business Limited : $857,030 over a period of 12 months
• Low Carbon Manufacturing Programme Workshops: Sustaining Your Business in a Carbon-constrained Economy by World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong : $1,986,822 over a period of 24 months