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CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia held a forum entitled ‘Design for Sustainability (D4S)’ at City Gallery in Central today (30 October).  The forum, under the Environment and Climate Change Forum Series, gathered experts from the design industry to share knowledge on and insights into D4S.  Participants from the public and private sectors, local schools and tertiary institutions attended the event. 

Mr Benny Leong, Assistant Professor of School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was the keynote speaker.  Other guest speakers included Ms Kay Chan, Founder and Product Designer of KaCaMa Design Lab, Mr Kevin Cheung, Upcycling Product Designer of kevin cheung design, and Ms Kay Liu, Education Manager of Redress.  The forum was chaired by Dr Matthew Pang, Programme Consultant of CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia. 

At the forum, Mr Benny Leong told the audience that D4S was achievable when user demand was taken into account in the design process, because only when users’ needs were satisfied would they reduce consumption.  Such is the concept of ‘design for sufficiency’.  Mr Leong also argued that too much emphasis on efficiency enhancement in design would result in consumerism.  He noted that, while it was easy for people to dispose of their unwanted possessions, as responsible consumers we could consider repairing instead of replacing, thereby extending the product life cycle and saving the scarce resources of the Earth. 

During the Question and Answer session, participants raised questions about D4S, and had a fruitful discussion with the speakers. 

CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia

CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia is a 5-year community engagement programme launched in 2012 by CUHK, with a generous donation of HK$70 million by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.  Committed to paving a sustainable future for Hong Kong, the programme aims at promoting environmental conservation and sustainability in local communities, through public education and carbon reduction partnerships with schools and non-governmental organizations. 

In order to draw on collective wisdom and to encourage active public participation in tackling various environmental issues, CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia has organized the ‘Environment and Climate Change Forum Series’ to invite experts and practitioners from different fields, as well as members of the public to look into different perspectives of environmental challenges and impacts of climate change, and to develop possible solutions. 

The Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change (MoCC) maintained by Gaia is open for free to the public.  The MoCC showcases the ‘Three Poles’ (the North Pole, the South Pole and Mount Everest) collection of the renowned Hong Kong explorer Dr Rebecca Lee, innovative research in environment, energy and sustainability initiated by CUHK, and the Jockey Club’s initiatives that promote green living in the community. 

More details of the CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia can be found at www.cuhk.edu.hk/gaia.