Sustainability Report 13-14 (Update)

Stakeholder Engagement

As a socially responsible organization, we are keen to foster a sustainable future with our stakeholders. We have a pivotal role to play in promoting social good and sustainability for a better world.

5.1 Caring Our Staff

We have clear employment policies to ensure fairness and transparency in the workplace. We also offer rewarding remuneration packages and benefits to our staff. In compliance with the relevant legislation, PolyU provides its staff members with retirement benefits through the University’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme and schemes under the Occupational Retirement Schemes Ordinance (ORSO), except for those who are exempted under the legislation.

Also, PolyU adopts award systems to motivate staff to excel in their work performance and to foster a sense of belonging among our staff. For example, “Faculty/School Awards for Outstanding Performance/Achievement”, “Outstanding Performance/Achievement Awards for Non-academic Staff” and “The President’s Awards for Excellent Performance/Achievement” have been introduced since 1996; and the Long Service Award Scheme has been introduced since 1990.

This year, the “Research and Scholarly Activities (Team Award)” and “Overall Contribution (Team Award)” of the “Faculty/School Awards for Outstanding Performance/Achievement” were respectively awarded to 33 staff members from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Industrial Centre as well as Mainland and International Student Services Office.

The Long Service Award 2013 Presentation Ceremony was held on 17 January 2014 to honour a total of 287 staff members.

5.2 Rising Awareness

5.2.1 Green Education Activities

As one of the leading universities in development of sustainability issues, conference, forums, workshops and training sessions are frequently held at the University. PolyU provides an effective platform to facilitate knowledge exchange with scholars, professionals and students. Some notable events held during the reporting year were shown as follows:

• Green Poster and Green Four Cubicle Cartoon design competitions were held in March 2013. Staff and students were encouraged to show their talents by addressing "green behaviour" in topics of Energy Conservation, Water Conservation, Paperless Campus, Waste Reduction or Recycling, and Food Waste Reduction.
• Green Exhibition was held in collaboration with green groups and corporations to share green tips in our daily lives, eco-tourism and up-cycling products etc.
• The Green Society, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Students Union, formed a team and organized the "Less Rice, please!" Flash Mob to advocate food saving. The team members went to the canteens on the PolyU Main Campus and promoted the "less rice" lifestyle to our students and staff.
• The Campus Sustainability Committee joined hands with the Health, Safety and Environment Office again to organize the PolyU Campus Sustainability Weeks (CS Weeks) 2014 from 24 March to 4 April 2014. Under the theme of "Green Campus; Green Lifestyle", this annual event provided a common platform for sharing green information and promoting environmental awareness. A variety of activities including a green forum, a green carnival, seminars, workshops, a field trip and an exhibition were staged on campus over a period of two weeks.

5.2.2 Involvement in the Community

• Car-free day was held on the first day of the CS Weeks to raise awareness about climate change and to reduce carbon emission.
• PolyU was one of the supporting organizations of the Hong Kong Green Day. As a sign of supporting green lifestyles, staffs and students were encouraged to wear and display "green" in their clothing or accessories on that day.
• PolyU pledged to support the Earth Hour initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to combat greenhouse gas emissions by switching off non-essential lighting on campus.
• PolyU Micro Fund Scheme provides opportunities for student-driven startups in relation to environmental protection and upcycling to transform their innovations into business ideas. We have awarded projects such as ‘Upcycling auto parts from abandoned vehicles into furniture and accessories’.
• The PolyU Staff Association (PUSA) and the Community Recycling Coop jointly organized the Used-item Collection Campaign in November 2013. Around 1,445 kg used items were collected. Collected items including clothes, shoes, bags and electrical appliances, etc., which were then sold to the needy in at very low prices.

5.2.3 Our Awards