Co-developing Community Energy Action Plans: Hong Kong Workshop Highlights

Date: Saturday, 21 June 2025 

Location: Jockey Club Creative Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University 

The workshop “Co-developing Community Energy Action Plans: From Community Visions to Policy Impact”, organised by the Department of Geography and the Asian Energy Studies Centre (AESC) at Hong Kong Baptist University, successfully brought together diverse voices to shape a low-carbon future for Hong Kong. 

Participants included residents from Fairview Park and Sheung Shui, representatives from the Wong Tai Sin Bright Orchid Women's Association, and university students — all working collaboratively to design community-based low-carbon solutions tailored to local needs. 

This workshop marks the final phase of the Hong Kong stream in the ongoing Smart Energy Communities research project, which has expanded from Hong Kong to Bristol, UK and Seoul, South Korea last year. Across the three cities, community households are engaging in a year-long social learning journey to envision, co-design, and develop action plans toward a zero-carbon future. 

Key Community Ideas and Proposals: 

• Fairview Park Group: Address barriers to household solar energy under the Feed-in Tariff scheme by promoting solar adoption in low-density residential areas 

• Sheung Shui Group: Explore the potential of under utilised short-term vacant land in the area (with a 3–5 year window) for community-based solar energy development 

• Wong Tai Sin Bright Orchid Women's Association: Advocate for energy-saving habits at the household level, particularly from the perspective of caregiving and daily routines 

• Youth Group: Introduce innovative strategies for carbon reduction and creative methods for mobilising community participation 

  
  

The workshop was honoured by the presence of four esteemed guests who provided insightful feedback on each group’s proposal: 

• Mr Wong Kam-sing, GBS, JP, former Secretary for the Environment 

• Dr Winnie Law, Deputy Director, Centre for Civil Society and Governance, The University of Hong Kong 

• Ir Dr Cary Chan, MH, JP, Honorary Advisor of AESC and former Executive Director of the Hong Kong Green Building Council 

• Mr Lawrence Iu, Executive Director, Civic Exchange  

  
  

Their input bridged the gap between community-driven ideas and policy-level action, inspiring participants and affirming the relevance of bottom-up initiatives in climate policy-making. 

The AESC team is currently consolidating the four group proposals into a comprehensive Community Energy Action Plan, which will be shared with relevant government departments and professional bodies by September 2025. We hope these community insights will contribute to the next update of Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan. 

Together with our local partners, we will also continue to support implementation at the community level — turning plans into practice for a truly low-carbon Hong Kong.