HealingParks

Healing Parks is a climate advocacy group established during Climate Advocacy Training for Youth (CATY) programme by CarbonCare Innolab. We strive to enhance the sustainability of Hong Kong's urban parks and to inspire the public to see urban parks as a solution to climate change. We urge the government to: 1. Initiate a city-wide climate adaptation assessment to measure the impacts of climate hazards on Hong Kong’s ecosystems, communities, and vulnerable users (e.g. the elderly, the permanently ill, the disabled, and blue-collar workers). 2. Introduce climate mitigating and adaptive functions when maintaining existing urban parks and updating park design guidelines. Reference can be drawn from other cities’ initiatives to promote resilience through enhancing urban green spaces, e.g. London, Singapore, Amsterdam. 3. Formulate a cross-departmental working group to make urban parks more sustainable and resilient. The working group should consist of DevB, EEB, PlanD, LCSD, CEDD, and other relevant government bodies. Its terms of reference should include formulating climate resilient design and management standards for urban parks, with due consideration paid to the needs of vulnerable users, use of renewable energy, and a concrete schedule for implementation.