HKUST Annual Report 2024-2025

57 S U S TA I N A B L E H O R I Z O N S EMPOWERING THE NEXT-GENERATION OF RESPONSIBLE CONSUMERS The Jockey Club Sustainable Campus Consumer Program (JCSCCP), coordinated and managed by HKUST since its launch in 2021, concluded successfully in May 2025. The initiative promoted SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) across the initiative’s eight UGC-funded university members. Key activities in 2024-25 included: Responsible Choices Reducing Waste Social media campaigns and real-world activities encouraged the HKUST community to choose reusable meal containers over single-use disposables for takeaway meals. For example, the Lunchbox Lending Program successfully diverted over 50,000 single-use disposables from landfills between May 2023 and April 2025 across all participating campuses. Responsible Consumption Green Campus Challenge The four-week “Every Action Counts” challenge used online quizzes and pledge campaigns to raise students’ awareness of sustainable practices and their environmental impact. Pop-up booths at each university provided in-person tips to students on water and energy conservation. Responsible Consumer Activism Rethinking Clothing Consumption In February 2025, over 60 students representing the eight UGC-funded universities learned about overproduction and overconsumption in the clothing industry through training workshops and visits to the Mills’ Center for Heritage, Art and Textile and the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA)’s Open Lab. With their new insights, students formed university-based teams to design projects that inspire their campuses to change their perception of clothes and to adopt more sustainable clothing consumption habits. WORKING TOGETHER AS COMMUNITY IMPACT MAKERS Through the HKUST Impact Makers Program, University staff can apply for special volunteering leave to participate in a range of sustainability-focused community activities. Together with alumni and other corporate partners, they took part in a beach clean-up of the University’s seafront, sorted out donated charity items for developing countries and contributed to oyster reef conservation efforts, among other activities. The commitment of these volunteers was celebrated at the first HKUST Impact Makers Program Appreciation Ceremony in April 2025, which recognized 70 staff members for their impactful contributions over the previous year.