Higher Education for Sustainability at Hong Kong Public Universities

In the Hong Kong public higher education, eight University Grant Committee (UGC)-funded institutions established the Hong Kong Sustainable Campus Consortium (HKSCC) to integrate resources and coordinates efforts in promoting sustainability on campuses and exerting positive social impacts regarding United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Even though Hong Kong public universities’ strategies and practices of sustainability have been well recognized, they are still facing many challenges, which are going beyond the narrowed definition of sustainable development and broadening the institutional roles in higher education for sustainability, as well as shifting the focus of sustainability-related efforts from institutional strategies to the individual level, including students’ learning and faculty members’ teaching and professional development. This presentation aims to review Hong Kong public universities’ efforts in sustainability and discuss their challenges. Besides, the presenters will explore a holistic framework to transform higher education teaching and learning to inform the sustainability-related curriculum for students and professional development programs for faculty members and finally realize higher education goals for sustainability.