I am delighted to introduce you to the inaugural issue of CUHK Sustainability, a new publication seeking to encapsulate, in thoughtful and engaging features, the efforts and achievements of the CUHK community in driving sustainability over the past year.

Sustainability is the tenet of many nowadays, but few have fathomed its full implications. It does not simply entail environmental improvement or protection, but negotiates social and economic processes as well. The year 2018 witnessed a deepening of CUHK’s engagement with these interconnected pillars of sustainability, as the University, in partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, has assumed the responsibility as the host of the Hong Kong Chapter of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN Hong Kong).

Launched in January 2018, SDSN Hong Kong aims at harnessing the expertise, information and resources from academic, philanthropic, government, business, and non-profit sectors to tackle the most pressing environmental, social and economic issues of the day. Through this multi-faceted platform, we hope to promulgate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) drawn up by the global SDSN and catalyze local and regional actions. At the institutional level, we also hope to provide counsel to the government in its formulation of policies that aim to take on the challenges of sustainable development.

In coordination with the launching of SDSN Hong Kong, the focus of CUHK Sustainability 2018 is on the work accomplished by CUHK members on the three fronts of sustainability, namely the biosphere, society, and economy.

The energetic and programmatic participation of the CUHK community in all three fronts of sustainability embodies a holistic approach to meeting the grand challenge of sustainability. We hope you enjoy these features, and will find in them food for thought and inspiration for incorporating the SDGs in the conduct of everyday life. Sustainability is not abstract talk, but a global issue that directly impacts our present and future. As a Native American saying goes, which was also mentioned by one of the interviewees: ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.’