The EPD is the largest employer of environmental experts in Hong Kong. It employs 1 239 professional and technical staff with backgrounds in science, applied science, town planning and engineering, and many are active members of learned societies in their fields of expertise. The department contributes to the development of the environmental management profession in Hong Kong and elsewhere by investing in continuous training of staff, collaborating with researchers, providing advice, writing for outside publications and organising conferences, seminars and staff exchanges.

Highlights of 2003:

• An international seminar on the effectiveness and aesthetics of noise barriers was held in December, jointly organised by the EPD, Highways Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Institute of Acoustics. Speakers came from Australia, Belgium, Britain, Hong Kong and Japan, and more than 160 professionals attended.
  
  
• A workshop on stormwater pollution management was held in November with officials from Canada and Australia, to share experiences. 60 professionals from the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau, Drainage Services Department and the EPD attended the workshop.
  
  
• A technical exchange workshop on monitoring techniques for particulate matter and volatile organic compounds was held in February with our Guangdong counterparts. Local, Mainland and overseas experts were invited to participate in the training of EPD and Mainland staff.
  
  
• Officials from the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau and the EPD carried out an exchange programme for the second year running to widen their work exposure and experience, and to foster closer partnership and communication between both jurisdictions.
  
  
• An interim version of the EPD’s Strategic Environmental Assessment Manual was presented at the annual meeting of the International Association of Environmental Assessment in June for comment.
  
  
• Presentation on Hong Kong’s proposed clinical waste control scheme at the National Clinical Waste Conference in Australia in November.
  
  
• A trial exchange programme between EPD and Highways Department officials began in October, to promote better understanding of each other’s work.
  
  
• The EIAO Support Section organised 34 tailor-made workshops on the EIA mechanism for about 820 professionals from government departments, private and public sector corporations, contractors, and professional bodies, between November 2002 and February 2004.
  
  
• Two PROPECC notes were issued to professionals, setting out guidelines for air quality inside bus and railway compartments.
  
  
• EPD staff wrote a number of papers on various environmental issues during the year, which were published in professional journals and presented at conferences and workshops.
  
  
• The EPD continued 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.
  
  
• Nine EPD staff were trained in an Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) Approved Environmental Management System Lead Auditor course in 2003.
  
  
• EPD professional staff received training for an average of 8.7 days each in 2003. Technical staff recorded an average of 6.8 days each of training. The department will continue to invest in staff development in 2004.
  
  

Environmental Graduate Training Scheme

The EPD employs more than 190 professional engineers in various fields. As a leading employer in environmental protection, it recognises the need to train future generations of professional environmental engineers. The department has been certified for the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers’ Scheme “A” Training since 1997. 21 environmental engineering graduates have undertaken on-the-job training with the EPD so far, acquiring project management skills, enforcement experience and environmental impact assessment knowledge. 12 of the graduates completed their training in 2003.

Workshop for Senior Management

To further enhance communication across the whole department and to share expertise amongst senior managers, a series of experience-sharing workshops were arranged for our senior staff.

Three workshops were held in 2003 on "Collaboration with Mainland China in Protecting our Environment", "Environmental Considerations in Preventing Disease Outbreak" and "Topical Environmental Issues". They were attended by an average of 123 senior staff, ranking from Senior Environmental Protection Officer to the Director of Environmental Protection. Over 100 Environmental Protection and Assistant Environmental Protection Officers also joined the last workshop.

Photo of EPD colleagues join in a discussion panel and share their views and experience in a workshop.