Building Green Workplace Culture
Sustainability is at the core of PolyU’s culture. To embed and further reinforce an environmentally-friendly mindset among staff members, the Campus Sustainability Committee and the Campus Sustainability Office inaugurated Green PolyU Awards – Green Office (GPA-GO) Programme in 2016. The programme provides an internal platform for employees to initiate changes in daily operations by planning and executing sustainable practices. They can learn green office practices in various activities, such as training sessions, seminars and workshops.
As part of the training under the GPA-GO programme, a number of seminars and workshops were organized during the year for staff to keep abreast of best workplace practices. Topics included energy management and healthy workplace, building a waste-less culture on campus and the benefits of green building and working environment were examined.
During the reporting period, the GPA-GO success story continued with its Phase 3 programme which received warm support from all departments and offices. To provide directions and guidance for Departmental Green Officers, a Green Office Initiatives checklist covering over 80 green office initiatives under different aspects has been developed as part of the Green Office Assessment Tool. In this new phase of the GPA-GO programme, sustainable working environment, leadership of developing green office culture, as well as innovating green ideas, have been incorporated into our green office initiatives.
In June 2019, a special ceremony was held to commend contributions and achievements of various departments and offices. General Education Centre won the Bronze Award, whereas both Industrial Centre and Human Resources Office received the Silver Award. Campus Development Office, which had a focus group to take lead in the green movement, was crowned with a Gold Award. The ceremony also provided a platform for representatives from award-winning offices to share their insights and best practices in building a greener office.