Quality life: Making Hong Kong a more sustainable city for us and future generations requires a concerted effort from the whole community.

What is sustainable development? Why should you be concerned? What can you do to help?

Get the answers to these and other questions at the Sustainable Development Community Fair at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza.

More than 20 eye-catching booths will feature interactive games, quizzes and specially designed panels. 

Apart from learning how you can do your part to help with sustainable development, you can try hands-on experiments such as using kinetic energy to power a light bulb.

A 'green' trolley on site will demonstrate an environmentally friendly way of travelling, as will a magnetic model car.

Seniors will present kung fu demonstrations, kids will sing and dance and secondary school bands will entertain.

The one-day fair is open from 10am to 6pm today. All are welcome to join and admission and all games are free.

The fair is the Government's Sustainable Development Unit's first large-scale community event aimed at promoting sustainability to the general public in an interesting and relaxed atmosphere.

To show their support, 23 non-government bodies have helped to organise the fair.

Assistant Director of Administration Jonathan McKinley said the fair is one of the many publicity projects aimed at raising public awareness of the issue of sustainable development.

Some people may have the misconception that it is simply about protecting the environment.

"Part of our challenge is getting people to understand, in particular the kids to understand, that it's just not about the environment," Mr McKinley said.

"In fact, sustainability is about broader policy of life issues.  In very simple terms, we express this in terms of the 'three pillars': the economy, society and the environment.

"Sustainability involves the economy growing in a manner which takes into account society's needs and also the need to try to conserve the natural environment as much as possible."

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment & Development defined sustainable development in the book Our Common Future as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

To be sustainable, development must balance economic, environmental and social considerations.

"We try to explain to people how protecting the environment does not necessary mean sacrificing economic development," Mr McKinley said.

"In the same way, promoting economic development should take account of the needs of people socially and also the environment, the integrity of the city."

Last year the Unit staged a roving exhibition in April and May, followed by an international seminar in June. About  450 local and overseas professionals and concerned individuals attended.

The Unit kicked off the first phase of a school outreach programme in October, through which audio-visual presentations, together with interactive games and a mini-exhibition will be held at 22 secondary schools.

Mr McKinley said the Unit aims to establish a sustainable development fund in 2003.

Also on the agenda is the establishment of a council to advise the Government on key issues related to sustainable development.

"We expect that, with the Council and the fund in place, this will encourage community-level projects that will spread the message about sustainable development in a way that is geared towards greater understanding of this issue in the community," he added.