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Earth Day is an annual worldwide event celebrated on 22 April, with various activities held to inspire action for environmental protection. In Hong Kong, the CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia (Gaia) funded by the Club’s Charities Trust marked Earth Day 2017 by holding a Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change (MoCC) Environment Fair  at Cityplaza in Taikoo Shing.

The theme of this year’s MoCC Environment Fair was “Climate Action”, and its aim was to promote green messages to the public through various interactive game and information booths. Several of Gaia’s strategic partners were invited to showcase their green initiatives and achievements at the Fair. Attractions included a booth featuring the Environment Bureau’s “Climate Ready@HK” campaign and an MoCC panoramic virtual tour to enhance the public’s environmental awareness.

Also warmly received was the first public performance of “The Drama of Climate Change”, an original play presented by the Bureau and the MoCC, and performed by the Chung Ying Theatre Company. Meanwhile “green demos” by MoCC interns showed the public how to ‘upcycle’ unwanted materials and turn them into new products.

Launched in 2012 by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) with a donation of HK$70 million from the Club’s Charities Trust, Gaia is a five-year community-engagement programme designed to promote environmental conservation and sustainability in local communities through public education and carbon-reduction partnerships with schools and non-governmental organisations.

The MoCC, the first museum of its kind in the world, is established and maintained by Gaia.  Among other exhibits, it showcases the ‘Three Poles’ collection (North Pole, South Pole and Mount Everest) of renowned Hong Kong explorer Dr Rebecca Lee, innovative research projects on the environment, energy and sustainability initiatives by CUHK, and the Jockey Club’s wide-ranging efforts to promote green living in the community.

More details of the CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia can be found at www.cuhk.edu.hk/gaia.