Mass media and environmental knowledge of secondary school students in Hong Kong

A postal survey on a random cluster sample of 1032 secondary school students in Hong Kong was conducted to investigate what and how much students know about the environment and how their knowledge is related to use of mass media. Results indicated that students were very knowledgeable on general and local environmental issues. The average score for environmental knowledge was 60.7 on a 100-point scale. There was some indications that students' environmental knowledge was shaped and limited by the reporting of environmental news in Hong Kong. Television news viewership had positive correlation with students' environmental knowledge while Chinese newspaper readership had a positive but weak correlation. Male students and students in higher forms were more knowledgeable about the environment. The study established a comprehensive measure for both general and local environmental knowledge with an acceptable level of internal consistency for subsequent studies.     

Environmental protection in Hong Kong amidst transition: Is Hong Kong ready to manage its environment by law?

Within the context of political democratization, this article explores environmental protection in Hong Kong since the government lauched a ten-year program to “save the environment” in 1989. Examining environmental management by law from a social-choice perspective, it argues that the government has yet to reach an integrative policy orocess. Hence the preconditions for an integrative set of environmental legislation are absent. Institutionally, without a comprehensive green policy, the current arrangements lack a vision as an integrative force to promote effective coordination among various sectoral environmental coordination among various sectoral environmental programs. The dominant approach of policy and law enforcement through consultation has rendered impossible strict enforcement of environmental rules and regulations as local economic growth enjoys a priority over environmental protection. At a time of environmental awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared to participate in environmental management in a strict legal manner. The overall observation is that Hong Kong has yet to see more mature political, legal, administrative, and social conditions for managing its environment within a legal framework.     

The environmental awareness of environmental protection bureaucrats in the People's Republic of China

Summary Over 180 environmental protection bureaucrats in the People's Republic of China were individually interviewed to determine their environmental awareness and their attitudes towards the environment. The study indicates that environmental protection bureaucrats in China have conflicting attitudes towards the relationship between man and nature, and between economic growth and environmental protection. However, they show a strong faith in science and technology's ability to solve environmental problems. The perception that too-harsh environmental protection regulations would reduce the growth potential of the economy is so predominant that it poses a serious threat to the environment of the three municipalities under investigation. It is argued that environmental management is a matter of managing human beings. To understand people, it is imperative to gain a thorough understanding of their worldview.Dr Koon-Kwai Wong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and the Geography option co-ordinator on the China Studies course at Hong Kong Baptist University. Dr Hon S. Chan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.     

Students' environmental concerns and opinions: a Chinese perspective

This study aims at comparing broadly the environmental concerns and opinions between Hong Kong and Beijing students. This is based on an earlier study in Australia which adopted a qualitative approach, using five open-ended question items. In their written comments the children's environmental opinions and concerns were explored. In general, upper primary students tended to be concerned more about the social environment relating to society, while junior and senior secondary students expressed more concern about the social environment relating to the nation and global issues.     

A comparison of waste-reduction practices and new environmental paradigm of rural and urban Chinese citizens

This paper compares the public attitudes of three southern Chinese cities/towns, namely Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Yuanzhou on waste recycling and avoidance, and the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP). The latter describes the concept of treating the resources and the ecosystems on Earth as things having their own rights rather than being subordinate and subservient to humans. These three places are chosen to represent areas in different stages of urbanization in the Guangdong province. As Hong Kong is also a southern Chinese city, where data of similar nature are available, comparison with Hong Kong is also made. It was found that the support for source separation of household waste in the rural and urban areas in mainland China was greater than that found in Hong Kong. Concerning actual practices on waste separation, about 85% of the respondents in the cities and almost all of the rural household surveyed have the habit of saving up and selling the recyclables. It is estimated that about 11-13% of the household waste was diverted in such a way. This is higher than the estimated 8% household waste recovery rate of Hong Kong. The majority of the respondents in the three surveyed cities have recovered household recyclables in the past but with higher family incomes, it was now less common. On the contrary, the lower income group tended to recover greater portion of their waste for selling to the waste depots. These findings have implications on the future waste management policy formulation in China. Regarding the acceptance of the New Environmental Paradigm, it was found that the rural population scored better than the urban population and they tended to agree more frequently with the NEP. However, the rural population perceives a greater potential for industrial and urban development without dampening environmental quality. It was also found that the NEP scores of the mainland Chinese are higher, in general, than their Hong Kong counterparts as measured in early 1990s. Insufficient public support has often been a concern for source separation programmes in all countries despite the obvious waste management benefits of recycling. This study shows that there is overwhelming support for source separation of waste in Mainland China, whether it is in rural or urban communities, and that most people are already undertaking source separation due to the redemption value of the recyclables. Therefore, for policy-makers, the concern should not be on whether the public knows how to separate the waste but rather on how to motivate them to separate waste for the good of society, and how to maintain an effective market for recyclables.     

Environmental Planning, Biodiversity and the Development Process: The Case of Hong Kong''s Chinese White Dolphins

Hong Kong has enjoyed more than 20 years of almost uninterrupted economic growth and the territory is widely recognized as one of the most successful of the newly industrializing economies. Economic success has, however, brought with it a variety of environmental problems including deterioration of air and water bodies and the loss of terrestrial and marine habitats. Environmental degradation also poses a serious threat to local biodiversity. Despite its stated commitment to environmental protection, the Hong Kong Government is still strongly growth-oriented and the territory's environmental institutions and policies often seem ineffective in resolving the conflicts that arise between development and the environment. To illustrate some of the contradictions inherent in Hong Kong's current approach to environmental and conservation issues, this paper focuses on the controversy surrounding the fate of the local population of the Indo-Pacific humped-back dolphin, or, as it is locally known, the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis). The dolphin's habitat has been disrupted by major development projects, marine pollution and fishing and shipping activity. It is possible that the species will be extinct in Hong Kong waters by the beginning of the next century. The paper examines the background to the controversy that has arisen surrounding the future of the dolphins and evaluates the Government's attempts to develop a conservation strategy to protect them. The preferred option—the creation of a dolphin sanctuary within a designated marine park area—has been strongly criticized by some local marine biologists and conservationists as being inadequate and inappropriate. The failure to address effectively the problems faced by the Chinese white dolphin may be attributed to the lack of an overall conservation strategy in Hong Kong, shortcomings in the territory's environmental impact assessment system and limited local scientific knowledge concerning the dolphin population.     

The environmental attitudes inventory: A valid and reliable measure to assess the structure of environmental attitudes

Environmental attitudes (EA), a crucial construct in environmental psychology, are a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating the natural environment with some degree of favour or disfavour. There are hundreds of EA measures available based on different conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and most researchers prefer to generate new measures rather than organize those already available. The present research provides a cumulative and theoretical approach to the measurement of EA, in which the multidimensional and hierarchical nature of EA is considered. Reported are findings from three studies on the development of a psychometrically sound, multidimensional inventory to assess EA cross-culturally, the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI). The EAI has twelve specific scales that capture the main facets measured by previous research. The twelve factors were established through confirmatory factor analyses, and the EAI scales are shown to be unidimensional scales with high internal consistency, homogeneity and high test-retest reliability, and also to be largely free from social desirability.     

Environmental Reform,Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process in Hong Kong: An Exploratory Study of Stakeholder Perspectives

A number of social surveys on environmental issues have been conducted in Hong Kong over the past 20 years but none has investigated processes of environmental reform from a stakeholder perspective. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of 120 representatives of eight stakeholder groups conducted in 2003. This exploratory study had two main objectives. First, it investigated stakeholder views on environmental policy making in Hong Kong including policy objectives and priorities, the policy instruments employed, the discourse surrounding environmental policy making and sustainable development, and the effectiveness of local environmental institutions. Second, it explored the extent to which Hong Kong is undergoing environmental reform processes consistent with the principles of ecological modernization.

The results indicate that a conventional command-and-control model focusing on pollution control drives environmental policy making in Hong Kong. Government is seen as a relatively unresponsive, ‘controller’ regime relying heavily on laws and regulation to pursue its policy objectives. Support exists among stakeholders for the use of new environmental policy instruments (NEPIs), particularly those of an economic nature, but there is scepticism about the potential effectiveness of voluntary environmental agreements. Local environmental discourse is characterized by the counter-positioning of economic development and the environment. Most stakeholders share the view that the debate surrounding sustainable development has been poorly informed and that the concept is not well-understood. Stakeholder responses suggest that there is considerable divergence between the potential and actual effectiveness of important local environmental institutions. While there is empirical evidence indicating that some environmental initiatives have produced technical outcomes consistent with ecological modernization, our findings suggest these do not reflect a conscious change in the direction of environmental policy and that the social and institutional transformations that also underpin ecological modernization have yet to become embedded in Hong Kong.     

Use of environmental teaching kits in Hong Kong

A systematic postal survey of 449 schools in Hong Kong (including kindergartens, primary and secondary schools) was conducted to investigate the use of environmental education teaching kits and to obtain feedback from teachers about the view and comments in using these kits. Results indicated that kindergartens used teaching kits more frequently than secondary and primary schools. Most of the schools found the existing teaching kits helpful. Appropriate content, updated information, attractiveness to students and inclusion of a teachers' guide were considered important criteria in deciding the use of the teaching kits. Good illustrations, quality production and appropriate duration for the class were considered important factors too. The tight teaching schedule was the major hindrance for secondary and primary schools in the use of the environmental teaching kits. However, the main hindrance for using environmental teaching kits in kindergartens was that they did not have sufficient copies. Hong Kong schools would like to see new teaching kits about waste recycling, energy conservation, green behaviour, air pollution, noise pollution, sewage treatment and wildlife endangering, focusing on Hong Kong and China.     

MODERATING THE STRESS IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS: THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN HONG KONG AND CHINA

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and employee health in Chinese white and blue-collar samples, and to examine the role of organizational commitment as a stress moderator. Data are collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The participants are 158 white and 138 blue-collar workers in Hong Kong and 372 blue-collar workers in China. The results show that environmental conditions (including ventilation, workable space, illumination, temperature, noise, air pollution, and freedom to move around at work) are positively related to job satisfaction, and physical and mental well-being. These relationships are particularly true in the Hong Kong white-collar and China blue-collar groups. Further, organizational commitment moderated some of the relationships between environmental conditions and health. Inconclusive results of the buffering role of organizational commitment are obtained.     

Contextualisation of Local and Global Environmental Issues in North-east England: implications for debates on globalisation and the 'risk society'

In this paper the authors explore data on environmental meanings, and the contextualisation of environmental concerns, that were obtained from a qualitative study of risks to health from air pollution. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 49 people living in two conurbations in north-east England. The findings highlight the importance of the local context (local history, experience, local knowledges and everyday existence) as an arena in which environmental meanings and concerns are constructed and negotiated, and how global environmental issues are also contextualised, and made sense of, within an explicitly local framework. These findings are used as a basis upon which to critically reflect upon the emphasis on globalisation within theoretical debates on 'risk society'.     

Contextualisation of Local and Global Environmental Issues in North-east England: Implications for debates on globalisation and the 'risk society'

In this paper the authors explore data on environmental meanings, and the contextualisation of environmental concerns, that were obtained from a qualitative study of risks to health from air pollution. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 49 people living in two conurbations in north-east England. The findings highlight the importance of the local context (local history, experience, local knowledges and everyday existence) as an arena in which environmental meanings and concerns are constructed and negotiated, and how global environmental issues are also contextualised, and made sense of, within an explicitly local framework. These findings are used as a basis upon which to critically reflect upon the emphasis on globalisation within theoretical debates on 'risk society'.     

A Comparison of Waste Reduction Practices and the New Environmental Paradigm in Four Southern Chinese Areas

On domestic waste recycling, it was found that source separation of domestic waste in mainland China was supported by 85% of the urban population and about 11–13% of the household waste was recovered and sold by the householders for financial gains. It was also found that the lower income group tended to recover a greater portion of waste, indicating that voluntary waste recovery activities in mainland China were carried out largely due to economic reasons. Thus, the Western type of source separation program in which residents are requested to separate recyclables for the community may not be welcomed in mainland China. In Hong Kong, despite the presence of community waste recovery programs, the recovery of domestic waste is only about 6% and is therefore less than those of the mainland Chinese cities surveyed. On the choice of source separation programs, it was found that Hong Kong people ranked familiarity a more important criterion than convenience. Therefore, the collection frequency of recyclables and time and place for setting out recyclables should be as similar to those of normal waste collection as possible to attract high participation in source separation programs.     

The role of media exposure, social exposure and biospheric value orientation in the environmental attitude-intention-behavior model in adolescents

This paper explores the hypothesis that contextual environments (media exposure and social exposure) and biospheric value orientation are important antecedents to the attitude-intention-behavior model ( [Ajzen, 2001] and [Ajzen, 2002] ) in the context of environmental psychology. Data for this investigation were obtained from a random sample of 2106 (1073 males and 1025 females) high school students in Hong Kong. A path analysis demonstrates that adolescents’ social exposure and media exposure are associated with biospheric value orientation. The biosperhic value orientation is found to mediate between the contextual variables (media exposure and social exposure) and environmental attitude. This environmental attitude, in turn, mediates the relationship between this value orientation and behavioral intention to act environmentally. Results show that both adolescents’ behavioral intention and degree of social exposure are associated with their environmental behavior. Overall, this article provides empirical support for the proposed path model. The article concludes by presenting theoretical and practical implications for future research in environmental psychology.     

Green procurement in the Asian public sector and the Hong Kong private sector

Since the 1980s, green purchasing/green procurement has increasingly been recognised as an effective means of addressing and reducing negative environmental impacts related to product production and consumption around the world. This paper reviews the procurement practices and policies of five Asian countries and Hong Kong, in the context of an international overview of green purchasing and practices. The extent of government involvement in green procurement is found to directly determine its overall effectiveness, and up-to-date information resources clearly enhance delivery and performance. A case study in Hong Kong demonstrates how public leadership on green procurement has advanced green procurement in the private sector.     

Environmental attitudes and behaviour of secondary school students in Hong Kong

Summary A postal survey of 992 secondary students in Hong Kong using the Weigel and Weigel environmental concern scale was conducted to investigate their environmental attitudes which were reflected in a readiness to engage in various pro-environmental behaviours including paper recycling at school and at home and the use of less tissues and plastic bags. The results indicated that students' expressed great concern about the environment and exhibited a strong willingness to participate in pro-environmental behaviour. However, students' overoptimism towards technological development and the perceived importance of the benefits of modern consumer goods were two major factors that contradicted their concern for environment. The Pearson correlation coefficient between environmental concern and comprehensive behavioural intention was strong and positive (0.52). Television and school were cited as major sources of environmental information. Mass media were more important than personal media in the dissemination of environmental information. Female students, older students and students living in private housing held more positive environmental attitudes and were more willing to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Factor analysis indicated that the environmental concern scale was composed of two factors, personal sacrifice and optimism/issue.Ms Kara K.W. Chan is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. She has previously worked in the advertising and public relations profession and as a statistician for the Hong Kong Government. She is actively involved in research on Hong Kong and China's mass communication and advertising industry, consumer behaviour and the promotion of pro-environmental behaviour.     

An institutional theoretic investigation on the links between internationalization of Chinese manufacturers and their environmental supply chain management

Increased market internationalization with more and stricter environmental regulations in different countries has caused manufacturers to extend their environmental management practices to cover their supply chain partners. Thus, environmental supply chain management (ESCM) has become an important competitive and environmental strategy for manufacturers to pursue. China, as a global manufacturer, is also facing this balance of economic development with environmental protection. The literature remains unclear on whether internationalization is beneficial or costly when it comes to environmental management practices such as ESCM within China. Further insight into this issue will be useful for organizations in developing and emergent economies to more effectively prepare for internationalizing their operations and markets. Using internationalization drivers that propel the implementation of environmental management practices in the Chinese manufacturing industry, we applied cluster analysis to group a sample of 377 Chinese manufacturers surveyed in 2007 into three clusters: mature internationalization, emergent internationalization, and domestic-focused. Institutional theory within an internationalization context sets the theoretical foundation for evidence that the international environmentally oriented institutional drivers encountered are positively associated with the adoption of ESCM practices by Chinese manufacturers. We also find significant differences in the environmental, economic and operational performance outcomes across the three manufacturer clusters. We conclude that manufacturing organizations experiencing internationalization with a greater extent of adopting ESCM practices tend to perform better.     

Urban renewal and environmental planning in Hong Kong

Summary The grave shortage of land suitable for development has always been a major constraint on urbanisation in Hong Kong. Rather lax or inappropriate planning controls in the past have resulted in haphazard city growth, leaving extensive areas of densely-packed tenement slums. Recent sluggish attempts at urban renewal have brought little relief. The objectives of environmental planning to rejuvenate the old districts are assessed in relation to their limitations and potential. The problems and opportunities of employing comprehensive redevelopment to upgrade environmental quality with reference to building stocks in the pre-war and post-war private residential, public housing and obsolete industrial sectors are evaluated. The prospects of environmental improvement through new institutional framework and legislative measures are discussed.     

Listening to locals on payments for environmental services

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) is gaining recognition worldwide as a serious option for conservation of ecosystems, as well as potentially improving the livelihoods of people providing environmental services. However, little attention has been paid to research on views of local people in their potential roles as service providers. In this research we explore perspectives of poor people living in a National Park in Vietnam, where introduction of PES is being considered. In-depth interviews and workshops were conducted – with strong emphasis on the use of visual techniques, to help facilitate learning processes and provide insight into local perspectives. From the research, two models were developed to indicate general factors that influence the likelihood of people adopting, and adhering to, PES schemes. We suggest these models can be used to guide the design of PES. Our findings also reveal three main requirements important in design of pro-poor PES: (1) Thorough scoping studies for ensuring that schemes are based on sound understanding of potential providers' perspectives and context. (2) Such studies should emphasise qualitative research and draw on participatory tools, to facilitate open dialogue and co-learning by researchers and participants. (3) Policy makers should consider designing hybridized schemes, i.e., in which PES concepts are combined with integrated conservation and development.     

Assessing local discourses on water in a South African newspaper

Academic understandings of environmental discourses are primarily based on global and national accounts, despite widespread acceptance of the local as an essential site of environmental action. Local water issues have been studied in a number of ways, including interviews and ethnographies that show the impacts of water scarcity, examine the role of mediating technologies, and provide diverse perspectives on governance. An overarching impression of key narratives and concerns at local scales, however, is lacking. In this paper, we examine water coverage in The Sowetan, a South African newspaper known for its distinctive voice, as a (albeit imperfect) proxy for local discourse. We identify key themes, location and scale, trigger events, actors, authors, and provide initial insights into the problem frames used in these texts. Our findings show distinct differences from the results of environmental media analyses at other scales, including strong individual citizen voices, emphasis on the politics of water, and rare use of language that accords with global environmental discourses; this also differs from results based on interviews and ethnographies at the local scale. Our findings raise important questions about the resonance of global discourse with local views and practices and how local discourses are produced, and suggest a need to more carefully examine the myriad ways of talking about justice and the environment at different scales and through different methodologies.