Professional Development and Research

THE EPD EMPLOYS 1,100 professional and technical staff, making it the largest employer of environmental experts in the HKSAR. Our staff come from a wide variety of backgrounds, ranging from science, applied science and town planning to engineering, and many are active members of learned societies in their spheres of expertise. We contribute to the development of the environmental management profession in Hong Kong and elsewhere, by organising conferences, seminars and staff exchanges, providing advice, collaborating with researchers, continuously training staff and writing for outside publications.

The highlights of 2000 included:

• Co-organising the annual meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment, which was attended by more than 500 delegates from 80 countries.
• Co-organising the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) International Symposium and Exhibition on Waste Management in Asian Cities with the Hong Kong Waste Management Association. More than 400 participants from 30 countries and international organisations attended.
• Hosting the first regional training seminar of the Basel Convention, which aims to control illegal transboundary movements of hazardous waste. About 60 participants from 23 countries attended.
• Co-organising an international workshop on environmental law enforcement practices with Canada.
• Co-organising another 6 events including technical meetings and visits with our overseas counterparts and local and international environmental associations, which attracted some 360 local and overseas professionals.
• Collaborating with the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and the City University of Hong Kong to evaluate the possible use of local marine organisms to help determine the toxicity of sediment. We also collaborated with the City University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong to develop a rapid testing method for E. coli using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique.
• Producing 34 papers, which were published in professional journals or presented at conferences or workshops. The papers were written by EPD staff on various environmental issues.
• Continuing to serve on the fund-vetting committees of the Innovation and Technology Fund and the Environment and Conservation Fund, which help finance education and research projects in the environmental field.
• Providing training to our professional staff for an average 7.2 days each in 2000, which met our stated target. About 60% of the training sessions focused on environmental subjects and the rest covered management, safety, languages and computers. Our technical staff each recorded an average of 6.8 days of training in 2000, with more than 35% concerning environmental subjects.

Image of IAIA 2000 Conference

Environmental Graduate Training Scheme

More than 180 professional engineers in various fields now work in the EPD. But we are conscious of the need to train future generations of professional environmental engineers. In August 1997 we initiated a three-year Environmental Graduate Training Scheme. Nine engineering graduates have entered training under the department and three of them graduated in 2000.

We will continue to invest in staff development in 2001.