About the Project

Partnership for Sustainability Leadership in Business

In response to rapid social-ecological changes on a global scale—climate change, resource scarcity, social exclusion and change of customers’ aspirations— and the United Nations’ call for actions to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many businesses have risen to the challenges and taken actions to contribute to sustainable development. To support and further enhance these efforts and the business sector’s role in promoting sustainability, The Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) of The University of Hong Kong, with support from The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), has initiated a four-year action research project—“Partnership for Sustainability Leadership in Business (PSLB)”.

This Project is the first-of-its-kind collaborative endeavor leveraging the strengths of academic institutions, businesses, regulators and the community at large to support the business sector, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in Hong Kong and the region to build the Sustainable Value Chains (SVC) and to promote the SDGs.

The first-of-its-kind collaborative endeavor leveraging the strengths of academic institutions, businesses, regulators and the community at large to support the business sector, particularly the SMEs, in Hong Kong and the region to build the Sustainable Value Chains (SVC) and to promote the SDGs.


The Project is led by Professor Wai-Fung Lam and a group of sustainability experts, with the aims of promoting collaboration and partnership between large corporations and SMEs through knowledge transfer, capacity building, and network development, and building resilience against sustainability challenges.

The Project has engaged the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Business Environment Council (BEC) as Project Collaborators, and researchers of the Faculty of Business and Economics, HKU (FBE) as Research Collaborators. This Project consists of two key components—“Knowledge Inventory” and “Collaborative Leadership Scheme”. The former is an online resource hub on which a whole array of resources and tools—“Best Practice Cases”, “Guru Cases”, “SME Sustainability Self-check Tool”, “Kick-starter Impact Toolkit: Sustainability Roadmap”, “Kick-starter Impact Toolkit: Sustainability Strategy and Action Planning Template”, “Practical Guidebooks”—will be made available to businesses who are keen to integrate sustainability measures in their operations.  The latter consists of knowledge-based collaborative events—“Knowledge Primers”, “Practical Workshop”, “Mentorship Programme”, “Quick Connect”, “Elite Roundtables” and other programmes—through which sustainability leaders in big corporations work closely with SME executives to build a talent pool of sustainability leaders for the business sector.

7+likes

Vision and Mission

Co-learning and co-creating knowledge for business sustainability
Nurturing sustainability leaders in the business sector and particularly SMEs
Building an enabling environment for the development of sustainable value chains

Knowledge
InventoryOnline one-stop resource hub

Best Practice Cases
Written case studies documenting businesses with outstanding sustainability practices
Guru Cases
Video portraits featuring interviews of exemplary sustainability leaders in the business sector
SME Sustainability Self-check Tool
A quick online questionnaire which enables SME management personnel to conduct self-evaluation of sustainability impact they have created
Sustainability Roadmap
An easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide for SMEs to learn how to embed sustainability principles and practices in business strategy and operation
Sustainability and Action Planning Template
A framework and rubric with which SME management personnel can prioritise and formulate actions for implementing comprehensive sustainability plans
Practical Guidebooks
Consolidated self-learning resources for SMEs to apply and integrate sustainability principles in their business operation and across the value chains

Collaborative Leadership SchemeOffline capacity building and networking platform

Elite Roundtables
A series of advanced discussions on major issues pertaining to sustainable development exclusively for Sustainability Fellows in the business sector and distinguished regional and international guests
Knowledge Primers
Sharing sessions comprising presentations by academics and sustainability pioneers in the business sector, followed by panel discussions and interactive session

Collaborative Leadership SchemeOffline capacity building and networking platform
Practical Workshop
Experiential training and learning programme aimed at building participants’ capabilities in advancing sustainability initiatives in their businesses through a train of practical activities including ignite-talks, problem-solving exercises and interactive sessions
Mentorship Scheme
An industry-specific mentoring programme with coaching session & 1-day shadowing. The programme connects and matches 30 sustainability practitioners in SMEs with 30 seasoned sustainability leaders in big corporates
Quick Connect
A mingling session in a “speed-dating” format for sustainability practitioners of SMEs and big corporates to share their respective vision on sustainable business and explore potential areas of business collaboration

Initiated by

Established in December 2002, the Centre for Civil Society and Governance (the Centre) strives to enhance our knowledge of civil society and its contribution towards good governance, and to facilitate the attainment of a sustainable society through forging community-based, innovative solutions to inform policy deliberation and collective actions. The work of the Centre is organized around three Labs—the Policy for Sustainability Lab (PSL), the Social Entrepreneurship and Civic Action Lab (SECAL), and the Nonprofits and Philanthropy Lab (NPPL); each of them represents a research focus and an area of excellence of the Centre.

 

EN