HSBC Rural Sustainability Programme – APAC Initiative for Regional Impact (AIRI)
To scale up the impact of the knowledge and incubation experience built around the rural sustainability experience at Lai Chi Wo, APAC Initiative for Regional Impact (AIRI) aims to create a strong regional network and action momentum for the future attainment of rural sustainability in Asia-Pacific. AIRI is constitutive of two main components:
(1) A Regional Consortium of intellectual exchange built by networks of selected action-research institutions and international partnerships. The Consortium will jointly promote sustainability through collaborative research, collective actions of a regional scale, and the empowerment of a community of Change Fellows. Founding members of the Consortium include the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at the University of Hong Kong, Department of Development and Sustainability at Asian Institute of Technology, School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, and University Outreach Office of National Chengchi University; and
(2) A Fellowship Scheme which recruit, connect, empower and recognizes thought leaders and exceptional practitioners who are passionate and keen on nature-based innovations and innovative climate solutions. The talent pool will go through a one-year capacity-building programme to further develop their visions and equip themselves with new knowledge and skills to produce actionable proposals which translate novel ideas into social impact.
All these efforts will coalesce into an Asia-Pacific model of rural sustainability which will contribute to the attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly the SDG 17 on strengthening the global partnership for sustainable development.