HKUST has always put much emphasis on operating a green campus since her inception and had instituted many programs in areas of energy conservation, resource conservation and waste minimization since the early days.  In 2008, a group of colleagues envisaged the need for HKUST to build on the green practices to embrace sustainability in order to facilitate sustainable development and to integrate sustainability concepts in teaching, research and campus life.

 

A UAC subcommittee, the Environmental Sustainability Steering Committee (ESSCom), was commissioned to help steer this effort.  Members comprise academic and non-academic colleagues from all schools and related administrative units.  A Sustainability Officer, Dr. Calvin Kwan, was recruited in 2009 to provide leadership to pioneer this effort.  Many new initiatives were launched: hosting sustainability forums, establishing a UST sustainability website, introducing new programs like live green, green ambassador, carbon accounting; and organizing promotional activities such as carbon neutral congregation, low carbon-emission food promotion, eco-tour, green internship, green job fair, etc.  These efforts have helped raise awareness, stimulate interests and begin fostering sustainability culture and practices.

 

The efforts reached outside the campus as well.  Working with sustainability professionals from other universities, members of the ESSCom helped coordinate the establishment of the Hong Kong Sustainable Campus Consortium (HKSCC) and served as its Secretariat from 2011-12.  The efforts demonstrated that HKUST is in a position to set an example for sustainable actions both inside the campus as well as outside in the Hong Kong community.

 

To build on this impetus, university management decided to allocate more resources to better organize this effort and to further expand the sustainability concept to reach all campus operations, including academic and research activities.  A new sustainability unit was established in 2012 and is now housed in the Health, Safety and Environment Office.  With the Sustainability Officer opted to take on new challenges in private industry, effort was underway to recruit a new complement of colleagues to staff this unit.  They have all reported for duty now and are ready to take HKUST sustainability to scale new heights.

 

The unit head is Senior Manager, Mr. Davis Bookhart, a pioneer in the campus sustainability movement in the USA. Prior to joining HKUST, he directed the sustainability office of the Johns Hopkins University.  Joining him are Ms Loretta Luk, Manager and Miss Carmen Li, Program Assistant. Loretta is a HKUST BBA graduate who worked many years for WWF while Carmen has academic background in finance and a strong passion for sustainability.

 

 

Please share your views and insights with them. Let's work together to build HKUST a center of excellence in sustainability!