March 2009
As the world observes the one-year mark since the 512 Sichuan Earthquake, the efforts of the HKU community to build on various initiatives relating to reconstruction and long-term knowledge transfer in catastrophe management continue.
At the Symposium on Disaster Management, held on May 9, progress reports were presented on some the HKU activities undertaken during the past year. These included fundraising, local forums and international conference, and collaborations with Mainland higher education and charitable institutions on disaster management.
With donations from alumni and the community, the University has set aside some internal seed funding to facilitate its academic colleagues to engage in research and service-oriented initiatives in the earthquake affected areas.
The first round of the internal seed funding exercise concluded with a total of 15 projects, which cover a wide range of strategic areas including catastrophe health care, emergency engineering, capacity building and psychosocial care, and social service management, receiving funds. Funds will be continued to be raised to support these and future projects.
One year on, the work in Sichuan continues, as does the work of the HKU community. As we remember this day, we hope we can count on your ongoing support.
We care, we serve, we build knowledge for the future.