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The following is issued on behalf of the Council for Sustainable Development:
The Council for Sustainable Development (SDC) met today (July 21) to discuss its efforts to reach out widely to different sectors of the community to promote sustainable development (SD).
"We had constructive discussions at the SDC meeting today. The meeting considered and commended the persistent efforts of the Education and Publicity Sub-Committee in promoting SD to the community, including the launch of the sixth round of the SD Fund applications, with the deadline for submission on September 23, its school outreach programme, school award scheme, and community outreach programme," SDC Chairman, Dr Edgar Cheng, said after today's SDC meeting.
"We will further explore ways to enhance our SD efforts at the district level," he added.
The SD Fund was set up in 2003 to support community initiatives for promoting the concept of SD. Practical projects and educational programmes that help raise public awareness of the principles of SD and encourage sustainable practices are encouraged to apply to the fund. Applications from non-government and community organisations as well as individuals are welcome.
"The council also discussed the observations that surfaced in the course of the brainstorming session held earlier in April with council and sub-committee members. We agreed the council's public engagement process was fruitful and will deliberate further on the sustainability issue for the forthcoming exercise," said the Chairman.
On April 21, members of the council and its two sub-committees had a brainstorming session to take stock of the council's work and discuss the way forward.
The meeting also noted the progress on the implementation of the First Sustainable Development Strategy and the preparation of the Government response to the council's report submitted earlier this year on the Better Air Quality engagement process.
The agenda and discussion papers for today's meeting will be posted on the website, www.susdev.gov.hk. A digest of discussions at the meeting will be posted shortly afterwards.
Ends/Monday, July 21, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:19
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