On January 24, Civic Exchange hosted the KEL Nature-Based Solutions Workshop, bringing together educators to explore practical ways to promote sustainability, climate change awareness, and decarbonisation efforts within schools and communities. The workshop began with a talk on environmental education by Dr. Xoni Ma from Outdoor Wildlife Learning Hong Kong. He emphasised the urgency and importance of environmental education in Hong Kong and explained how biodiversity is categorised into genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Participants then engaged in a hands-on biodiversity board game, Law of the Forest, designed by Dr. Ma and his team. The game introduced various habitats and species in Hong Kong, such as wild boars, snakes, and birds, while illustrating the intricate relationships between species as they compete for survival. The game highlighted the remarkable biodiversity Hong Kong enjoys despite its small land area. In the second part of the workshop, participants took a guided tour of The Harbour School’s Marine Science Centre, a teaching and research facility where students can closely interact with marine creatures and conduct their own research. Participants were introduced to various marine species housed within the facility, including different types of reef fish, jellyfish, corals, crabs, and more. They even had the opportunity to touch a horseshoe crab and a stingray in the touch tank. After the tour, interactive stations were set up where participants engaged in hands-on experiments, such as squid dissection and examining seaweed under a microscope. The centre provided a rare opportunity to observe the diverse marine creatures commonly found in Hong Kong—many of which are typically only seen by divers. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all the participants who attended the workshop and contributed valuable insights on integrating environmental education into schools under UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework. Teachers strongly expressed the need to incorporate ESD into school curricula to ensure students receive proper exposure to sustainability topics. They also suggested including student projects and research related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and making ESD a mandatory component within the values education framework in the short term. Civic Exchange would like to express our gratitude for all educators who participated in the workshop. This event served as a powerful reminder of the essential role educators play in shaping a sustainable future. By equipping teachers with the tools and knowledge to inspire their students, we take one step closer to fostering a greener, more conscious generation.

On 14th December, Civic Exchange hosted the KEL Decarbonisation Workshop, bringing together educators to explore practical ways to promote sustainability, climate change awareness, and decarbonisation efforts within schools and communities. The workshop began with Climate Fresk, a three-hour interactive game designed to teach participants the fundamental science of climate change and empower them to take meaningful action. Based on IPCC reports, the game encourages participants to actively contribute to building the Fresk, ensuring high engagement and enjoyment while fostering a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between human activities, climate change, and the societal challenges it presents. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the facilitators who generously devoted their time to raise participants’ environmental awareness through interactive experiments. In the second part of the workshop, participants visited the renovated former Wan Chai Environmental Resource Centre, kNOw Carbon House in Wan Chai, an educational resource centre dedicated to raising awareness about carbon neutrality and sustainability. Apart from exploring the original architecture and some of the historical items from the century-old Old Wan Chai Post Office, participants also learnt about the four main decarbonisation strategies, ways to achieve sustainability in daily life, and examples of recycled wood products in the garden. They also had the opportunity to create their own reusable beeswax food wraps, which promotes the idea of reducing of disposable plastic items and encourage participants to apply more environmentally friendly food storage methods in their daily lives. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all the participants who attended the workshop and contributed valuable insights on how schools can reduce waste and adopt greener practices under UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework. Teachers offered practical suggestions, such as implementing more project-based learning on climate change and sustainability and promoting the principles of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) within schools. Civic Exchange would like to express our gratitude for all educators who participated in the workshop. This event served as a powerful reminder of the essential role educators play in shaping a sustainable future. By equipping teachers with the tools and knowledge to inspire their students, we take one step closer to fostering a greener, more conscious generation.

On 3rd December, Civic Exchange hosted the KEL Waste Management Workshop, bringing together educators to explore practical ways to promote sustainability and the circular economy within schools and communities. The workshop kicked off with a new game led by Green Earth, designed to help teachers understand the current waste generation situation in Hong Kong. Through this game, participants learned how to differentiate recyclable materials and the proper ways to recycle different products. With participants divided into groups and encouraged to compete on their recycling knowledge, everyone was highly engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the activity. In the second part of the workshop, we visited O·PARK1, Hong Kong's first organic resources recovery centre located in Siu Ho Wan. O·PARK1 adopts anaerobic digestion technology to convert food waste into biogas (a source of renewable energy similar to natural gas) for electricity generation whilst the residues from the process can be produced as compost for landscaping and agriculture use. Participants were given an insightful tour of the facilities and learned about the complex process involved in sorting food waste before it can be turned into biogas. This reinforced the crucial message that clean recycling is essential. Next, we travelled to Green@Islands, one of the main Green@Community stations in Tung Chung. There, participants learned about the work of Green@Community in Hong Kong and the challenges of conducting recycling efforts in remote areas such as outlying islands. We also had the chance to visit their community garden and book-swapping corner — two initiatives aimed at reducing waste at the source. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the participants who attended the workshop and contributed valuable insights on how schools can reduce waste and become greener under the standards of UNSECO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Teachers shared helpful suggestions, such as making green audits compulsory at schools to assess waste generation and implementing food waste recycling bins in school canteens while educating students on their proper use. Additionally, it was suggested that schools conduct regular checks on water fountains to ensure quality, encouraging students to bring their bottles and reduce waste at the source. Civic Exchange would like to express gratitude to all educators who participated in the workshop. This workshop served as a powerful reminder of the vital role educators play in shaping a sustainable future. By equipping teachers with the tools and knowledge to inspire their students, we are one step closer to building a greener, more conscious generation.

On 29 November 2024, Hong Kong 2050 is Now launched the Key Environmental Education Leaders (KEL) Programme Nature-based Solutions Webinar. The KEL Programme aims to empower educators to nurture the next generation of environmental leaders by offering comprehensive training to principals, teachers, and educators from local schools in Hong Kong. We are honoured to have Ms. Suzanne Cheung from CLP Holdings Limited and Ms. Sheila Wong from The Nature Conservancy as our speakers. Ms. Suzanne Cheung opened the webinar by introducing the concept of the circular economy, a key principle in waste management. She emphasised that the circular economy is not synonymous with recycling; rather, it encompasses the entire product lifecycle. This includes considering whether a product’s design is recyclable or reusable, as well as its disposal method at the end of its life. Suzanne highlighted that, while renewable energy is growing in popularity, many materials used in renewable energy facilities are not recyclable. She also pointed out that circular economy requirements are now a part of many Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards for large companies in Hong Kong. As demand for green talent continues to rise, enquiring ESG and sustainability skills will be increasingly important and advantageous for both job markets and business needs. Next, Ms. Sheila Wong presented their project on recycling used oyster shells, showcasing how circular economy practices can also benefit biodiversity in Hong Kong. The Nature Conservancy collects oyster and mussels shells that are disposed from seafood industries and restaurants, and uses them to construct oyster reefs, which act as an ecosystem engineer for oysters and other shellfish to grow on. These oysters and shellfish provide significant environmental benefits, as one Hong Kong oyster can filter up to 30 liters of water per hour, improving water quality andeven stabilising shorelines. The pilot project aims to restore oyster reef near the Three-Runway System and Yung Shu Au in Tolo Harbour, and aims to increase job opportunities, reduce landfill waste, restore lost oyster reefs, promote sustainable development in local communities, and bring ecological and socio-economic benefits to Hong Kong. During the Q&A session, participants asked insightful questions, such as how schools can implement circular economy practices, how renewable energy materials are currently being disposed of, and where to find guidelines on what can be recycled. One participant also emphasised the importance of hosting workshops in schools to further promote recycling, especially that of electrical appliances. These questions reflect a growing interest in waste management and the role the education sector can play in helping achieve the government’s “Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035”. We are deeply grateful to our speakers for sharing their expertise and enthusiasm during the webinar, and we look forward to continuing the conversation on waste management in schools and across the education sector.