Building capacity for environmental management in Hong Kong

Building capacity for environmental management requires more than the traditional disciplines of science and engineering. Six success factors have been identified in the development of Hong Kong's environmental protection institutions. They are a strong, unifying vision; scientific understanding of the problems; openness to face challenges; pragmatism in developing solutions; involvement of the community; and commitment at the highest political levels. Growth in institutions is not a linear process, but involves phases of growth, interspersed with consolidation and reorientation. Hong Kong has seen success in developing robust environmental protection institutions and infrastructure, and is now building new leadership capacity for future growth.