Advocating Sustainable Lifestyles
With increasing environmental and social challenges ahead, we all have a role to play in doing our part. As a member of the global community, we strive to combat these challenges not only by reducing our environmental impact but by cultivating public awareness through a range of education initiatives. Aligning with UN SDG 4 Quality Education and UN SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals, we hope to make a positive impact on society and encourage everyone to join us in adopting a sustainable lifestyle and creating a better future for the world.
In late November 2021, NWD launched “Creating Shared Value Lease” (“CSV Lease”), an industry-first win-win sustainable tenant engagement initiative with a direct-to-employee programme to raise awareness, drive sustainable operations and reward based on sustainability performance. This expands on our previous tenant engagement efforts, including our Sustainable Tenancy Pledge launched in 2019.
On signing a CSV Lease, all employees of CSV Lease tenants will be encouraged to play an integral part in driving sustainability practices, including reductions in energy consumption and waste. Tenants will join like-minded peers to contribute to carbon reduction and participate in a variety of sustainability initiatives, such as waste recycling programmes^ and wellness workshops. To facilitate knowledge exchange, CSV Lease tenants will also be engaged via regular communication for sustainability news and trends sharing, and networking opportunities. Upon reaching agreed sustainability milestones, such as energy savings, CSV Lease tenants’ employees will be eligible to join exclusive sustainability events and earn K Dollars, which can be spent at over 450 outlets in the New World ecosystem.
CSV Lease is open to tenants at K11 ATELIER King’s Road, K11 ATELIER Victoria Dockside and K11 ATELIER 11 SKIES, with phased expansion across the retail and office portfolios of NWD and K11 in Hong Kong in the near term. Together with our tenants, we are working towards a net-zero future.
^: Regarding successful waste recycling programmes showcase, please visit “Driving Change through Partnerships” for more details.
On 16 January 2020, the Group launched its inaugural Sustainability Forum through Culture For Tomorrow, a non-profit organisation founded by Adrian Cheng. The Forum convened 30 international speakers and over 200 business leaders to inspire and build knowledge capital on sustainable impact through cross-sector and cross-generational dialogues.
At the Forum held at K11 ATELIER King’s Road, the Group reinforced its need to address the climate emergency, not only by reducing its environmental impact but also by forming partnerships, especially with next-generation changemakers. The event featured Peter Bakker, President & CEO of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), as keynote speaker and different panel discussions aiming to rethink cities, redefine cultures and communities, and realign finance and technology for the purpose.
The Forum also included concurrent exhibitions from K11 Art Foundation and The New York Times, which showcased works of photography and art, capturing the pressing realities of climate change and urging sombre reflection on the need for a culture of sustainable living.
Located on 8F of K11 MUSEA, Nature Discovery Park (NDP) is Hong Kong’s first urban biodiversity museum and sustainability-themed education park. Its mission is to raise awareness of Hong Kong’s ecological importance and inspire a holistic and sustainable lifestyle. It plays host to a variety of tropical and native plants, a rooftop farm, an aquarium and naturally attracted butterflies. Educational programmes and community events are regularly held to drive action on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Find out more about NDP’s vision from the documentary video on Forbes.com and Business Reporter.
NDP has partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute Hong Kong to launch the Little Nature Ambassador Programme to promote local biodiversity to young children. Through the interactive online modules, the Park aims to help future changemakers cultivate a sense of preserving the city’s biodiversity. Multi-sensory learning kits, consisting of tactile learning sheets with Braille and augmented reality-enabled sign bilingual vocabulary learning package, are provided to participants, enabling them to discover the mysteries of nature and be motivated to care about the environment. The Park hopes to create shared value by developing children’s empathy for the disabled and promoting social inclusion in the community.
The park supports the School of Biological Sciences of The University of Hong Kong to conduct local biodiversity surveys, which aim to monitor the biodiversity of the Park and its effectiveness at conservation and attracting more diverse species.
NDP also views corporates as important recipients of our sustainability advocacy. We curated our “Home Gardening for the Community” programme to promote the importance of sustainable lifestyle through urban farming. Seedlings nurtured by our corporate partners through this programme are transplanted to our farm, and the resulting harvest is then donated to Food Angel, a local NGO providing nutritious meals to underprivileged communities.
Please follow Nature Discovery Park’s Instagram Page for their latest news.
K11 KULTURE WEBINAR SERIES invites creative powers from around the world to engage in dialogues around the new normal, with an objective to enrich the lives of our customers through culture, creativity and innovation. Various topics such as, “Post COVID-19 era: Sustainable Lifestyle Redefined” and “Building Communities of Changemakers,” invite international leaders from different fields to discuss how we overcome environmental, social and economic challenges during the slowdown period. Other topics like “Rethinking Food with Urban Agriculture” explore the future of food and urban agriculture, promoting sustainable lifestyles to our stakeholders. K11 ATELIER ACADEMY has established three faculties in Soul x Body, Success x Differentiation and Culture x Creativity to launch various types of programmes, such as training for body stretching and stress relief.
At NWD, we acknowledge the importance of nurturing culture and art knowledge, and we see its linkage with our CSV mission. K11 Art Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Hong Kong dedicated to fostering the development of Chinese contemporary art founded by Adrian Cheng, has embraced the paradigm shift to launch a wide array of online and offline programmes to connect with audiences across vast distances, e.g. Calligraphy Rhapsody – Retrospective Exhibition of Georges Mathieu virtual tour. Also, K11 Craft & Guild Foundation has organised various events to promote Chinese traditional craftsmanship, e.g. Shanghai Architecture Festival: the Resurgence of Wooden Architecture Exhibition, A Treasure Expedition in K11 ARTUS, Hong Kong.
In response to the HKSAR Government’s “Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles”, NWD has forged New World Green Transport Alliance (NWGTA) in 2022. Formed by NWD and partners, the NWGTA is a HK$50 million initiative to scale up EV usage and advocate for greener lifestyles.
The Alliance will equip the NWD portfolio with more than 100 multi-model EV charging points over three to five years at selected locations. The first charging points were installed at K11 MUSEA, K11 Art Mall, and K11 ATELIER King’s Road in November 2022, with over 40 charging points now installed across the portfolio through this initiative alone.
NWGTA will contribute to Hong Kong’s goal to achieve zero vehicular emission by 2050 and shape a greener smart city by promoting energy transformation and achieving a carbon neutral sustainable future.
