A better tomorrow: Chief Secretary Donald Tsang says in a workshop that sustainable development requires everyone to seek ways of living that will enable us to enjoy a healthy, prosperous and just society.

It is important to engage the public first-hand in the course of building an effective strategy for a sustainable Hong Kong, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang told a workshop this morning.

The engagement process should aim to gather and organise the diverse views of our community into a shared vision for Hong Kong's development, he said.

The participants broadly accepted a proposed process from the Council for Sustainable Development. They noted that the community must understand the issues to be taken forward, and they should be achievable.

The engagement process could help to serve a number of purposes, such as broadening the dialogue between the Government and the public, as well as improving ways of exchanging information, participants said.

Council to see consolidated proposals in December

In the light of the conclusions reached at the workshop, the proposals regarding the formulation of a sustainable development strategy will be presented to the council at its meeting in December.

The workshop was organised by the Council for Sustainable Development with support from the Government's Sustainable Development Unit.

Mr Tsang, who is the council's chairman, said the principles of sustainability required everybody to seek ways of living that would enable us to enjoy a healthy, prosperous and just society, where "people can balance the aims of creating wealth and pursuing personal development with a respect for the natural environment and pride in our cultural heritage".

"For sustainable development to work, its message needs to be understood and embraced by the whole community," he added.

Council Vice-chairman Dr Edgar Cheng noted that it was essential to have an engagement process that would allow the community to debate the priorities for Hong Kong's future in an informed and inclusive manner.

More than 70 people turned out for the workshop. They included council members and sub-committee members, and representatives from business organisations, environmental groups, civic societies, professional and tertiary institutes.