URA encourages young people to care about sustainable development through performing arts

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has continued this year to organise a series of education and outreach activities encompassing the issues of urban regeneration to inspire young people to learn more about urban renewal. This year, the finale of the secondary school drama competition and gala show of the roving drama workshop for primary students were held on 13 March at the Youth Square in Chai Wan with nearly 400 people participating.

Entering its fifth year, the drama competition titled "Building Tomorrow Today" aimed to encourage the students to express their aspirations and views on sustainable development through creative script writing and drama performance; while  promoting the concerted effort of different segments in society such as families, schools, community, government, corporations and green groups in building a sustainable future for Hong Kong.

A series of seminar and workshop had been held by the URA, Hong Kong Green Building Council and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre for the shortlisted teams to equip them with better understanding of the sustainable initiatives adopted by the URA in its projects and the knowledge about green buildings, as well as to enhance their stage production and acting skills. The four shortlisted teams have demonstrated a high quality of play and good understanding of greening issues.

The drama competition was supported by Hong Kong Education City, Hong Kong Green Building Council and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre. The list of winners is shown in the Annex.

In this school year, the URA continued to partner with the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre to launch the six-month "Roving Drama Workshop" programme in primary schools to promote the URA's redevelopment and rehabilitation efforts through a soft and light-hearted approach. Nearly 2,000 students and teachers from about 30 primary schools have participated in this programme, of which more than 10 students have performed in the gala show on 13 March.

Speaking at the finale event, Non-Executive Director of the URA Board, Mr Philip Kan, said, "The theme on environmental sustainability for this year's drama competition is very meaningful, which echoes the URA's sustainability vision.  The URA strived to promote Hong Kong's sustainable development through the promotion of building rehabilitation, and the incorporation of green initiatives, provision of public open space and reduction of construction waste in its redevelopment projects. Up until now, eight URA redevelopment projects have achieved the Hong Kong BEAM Platinum rating, a recognition of the URA's efforts in advocating green building design."

Starting from 19 March (Thursday), a month-long exhibition featuring the highlights of the school activities will be displayed for public viewing at the Oasis Gallery of the former Central Market building. Information and photos of the activities are also available at the UREC website (www.urec.org.hk) and Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/UrbanRenewalExplorationCentre).

"Building Tomorrow Today" Drama Competition

Winners List 

 (ENDS)