community well-being

Here are the strategies we adopted in 2022-23:

• Green Team Wellbeing Project Group: Comprising students, staff and residents, the group organizes initiatives that help to enhance the well-being of the campus community. See joining details here.

• Student Wellness Working Group:

  Comprising campus operation staff, this committee develop a university-wide inventory of student-related surveys and well-being measures for benchmarking and assessing progress. They will also
  develop demonstrations and recommendations of space design and underutilized areas that promote student wellness.

• UniGreenEats: UniGreenEats is a group of HKUST students and staff who are passionate about establishing and promoting a sustainable diet in HKUST for the improvement of the University's environmental performance, students' health and animal welfare.

HKUST is comprised of staff full of talents and passion, the Special Leave for Volunteering is a chance where we celebrate the incredible power of giving back to our community.

We believe that volunteering not only benefits the causes we support but also enriches our lives by fostering wellness, building a sense of community, and strengthening our teams.

All staff can take up to four working days of Special Leave every calendar year for your volunteering endeavors.

Requirements:

The volunteering service should be based in Hong Kong and organized or officially recognized by HKUST.   

Participation in Wellness / Diversity & Equal Opportunities initiatives organized by the university is highly encouraged as well. 

The proposed volunteering service must not conflict with the core values and commitments of HKUST.   

Within one month after participating in the volunteering service, we kindly ask you to complete a simple survey to share your valuable experience and insights gained through the volunteering service.  

How to Apply for Volunteering Leave: 

Visit our HR site and follow the steps to submit your application. 

More information about volunteering experience can also be found here.

In alignment with the University's commitment to foster diversity and inclusion, and to provide a dynamic and supportive work environment in which staff may continually develop intellectually and professionally, the Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements for Non-academic Staff took effect from 2 Oct 2024. Under the approved Flexible Work Arrangements, eligible non-academic staff have the option of working from an alterantive location in Hong Kong other than the designaged office at a maximum of one day per week, subject to the requirement that they can deliver their work to its entirety from other locations. Individual staff will have the flexibility of managing their working responsibilities in a way that best suits their needs, ultimately contributing to healthy work-life balance.  More information is available on HR website under Staff Manual.

• Meatless Options: Campus Services Office (CSO) and Information Systems Office (ISO) has regular updates of its “Meatless Option” menu on the HKUST Student app under the category of Easy Living. For more details about the meatless student option, you may check out the link at HKUST meatless option in student app: https://cso.ust.hk/cat/veg.

• Chill-out spaces: Life in HKUST is not just about studying. Discover campus spaces whereby you can chill-out ranging from multi-purpose hang-out areas for small or large groups, relaxing facilities like deck chairs and swings. Check out our directory map showcasing these hidden finds on campus! 
• 
• Sports facilities: The University provides a variety of sports and recreation facilities for the enhancement and promotion of your total well-being. All Full-time and Part-time students, staff and family members, long-serving retirees / leavers and Sports Facilities User Card holders are welcome to use the facilities.  The indoor sports hall comprises 1,600 square meters floor space for activities such as badminton, basketball, volleyball and handball; and other space set aside for squash, table-tennis, fencing, dance, indoor archery, martial arts, weight training and fitness exercises. Outdoor sport facilities include an artificial turf soccer pitch, a 400-meter track with 8 lanes, a hard-surface mini-soccer pitch, a basketball court, a lawn area and tennis courts. A 50-meter outdoor pool and a 25-meter indoor pool are available for swimming and other aquatic activities.
• Venues for activity booking: DSTO provides activity venues such as music rooms, recreation rooms, meeting / common / conference / multi-function / co-working rooms, reflection rooms for student-led activities, meetings, practices, and social gatherings. BBQ stoves are also available for rental. 
• Nap pods: Research suggests that a short nap during the day can help you work better, think more clearly, and balance your emotions. The Nap Pods are designed to give you a perfectly timed, energy-reviving 20-minute nap to relax for your health & enjoyment. The Nap Pods let you recline at a comfortable sleeping angle, while playing ambient music through your headphones, and showing diffuse colored lighting to help you relax and refresh. After 20 minutes, the pod will gently wake you up with increasing light and vibration. Bookings can be made by clicking on these hyperlinks for @ LSK Library
  and @ Student Center.
• Automated book crossing kiosk: Developed by HKUST's alumni, Onepile is a book sharing vending machine where users can donate and reserve books through a web-based app. This kiosk is located at HKUST The Base. 
• Power bank for devices: Energy Kiosk, a winner of the 2023 Sustainable Smart Campus Student Competition, is a campus-wide shared power bank system. Users can check out portable power banks from designated kiosks, use them to charge their devices, and return them to any other kiosk, reducing waste and providing a convenient way to keep devices powered. Energy kiosks are located at Library G/F, LSKBB G/F, LG5 pillar opposites to LG5 Multi-function Room and Concourse near LTJ. 
• Multiple function printers & virtual barn workstations: Searching for the most convenient computing facilities near your hall or classroom? Location of computing facilities on campus can be found on this handy map Study Easy. 
• Other learning amenities: At the library, a variety of spaces and facilities are also available for group discussions, project work, or alone time. This ranges from garden and terraces, study rooms, study pods, classrooms, nap pods, refreshment zone, creative media zone, 3D printing service, tech item kiosk, self-service lockers and book sterilizers. 

• Low·CO₂ Food Tasting Tour: On 3 October 2024, HKUST successfully kicked off the Low·CO₂ Food Tasting Tour organised by Jockey Club Sustainable Campus Consumer Programme (JCSCCP). The initiative, dedicated to promoting sustainable and low-carbon eating habits, visited eight universities throughout October. It offers students and staff from different campuses a chance to taste delicious low-carbon dishes from various cuisines, while learning about how choosing green and local foods can benefit both their health and the planet through fun educational games. More details of the event can be found here.

   

  The event at HKUST drew a vibrant crowd of more than 480 attendees, including representatives from the Sustainability/Net-Zero Office, Campus Services Office, Dean of Students’ Office, and the School of Business and Management, all eager to savour the mouth-watering low-carbon dishes featured from campus caterers, including event sponsors American Diner (The Sandwich Club), and HFT Life, and local vendors such as Bijas Vegetarian Restaurant, Igloo Dessert Bar, LoCoFARMS, Plant Sifu, ROOOT, and Terrace in Seaside. From vegetarian options to locally-grown ingredients to dairy-free gelato, the event showcased a wide range of sustainable food choices, demonstrating to the campus community the delicious possibilities of low-carbon eating in Hong Kong.

• Earth Day 2023 - International Plant-based Food Tasting: To celebrate Earth Day 2023, free plant-based food tasting event to try delicious cuisine from around the world, all while supporting the planet was held by UniGreenEats and Sustainability / Net-Zero Office.
   

  To know more information about the UniGreen events in HKUST, 

  please visit webpage: https://unigreeneats.wixsite.com/hkust

  Instagram: @unigreeneats

• Green Monday X HKUST Campaign: A group of 14 HKUST green team members of students and staff have come together to form a Green Monday X HKUST Campaign. They aim to establish and promote a sustainable diet on campus to improve the environmental performance, students’ engagement, and awareness of animal welfare issues, by making low-carbon and sustainable living simple, viral and actionable. The campaign was kicked off by the first online talk held by Green Monday HK in March 2022, with more than 100 HKUST students participating. Alongside, HKUST “GreenMondays” started managing their website and official Instagram account to unfold different ideas such as sharing a simple plant-based recipe, promoting the Green Easter Game event, and working with campus caterers to increase the proportion of veggie diet in new semester. The campaign has resulted in almost 400% increase in Instagram followers within 3 months.

• Busking around Campus - The inaugural busking session was held during the Garage Sale and Market on 26 Oct 2024 and was very well received. Subsequent busking events included a serene evening Busking in the Afterglow on 1 Nov 2024, and a relaxing Marigold Hour of music at the beautiful lawn outside of Shaw Auditorium was held on 8 Nov 2024 during lunch hour. Student groups such as the HKUST Science Music Band Particles regularly performs in music shows, concerts and busking around campus. If you are interested to be a performer or have suggestions for future events, please email green@ust.hk. 

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• Briefing Session- Volunteering & Time Auction: 

  Have you ever taken any special leave and participated in volunteering services to give back to our community? We believe that volunteering not only benefits the causes we support but also enriches our lives by fostering wellness, building a sense of community, and strengthening our teams.

  We have organized an online briefing session for our staff with Time Auction on 18 October 2024 to introduce the volunteering landscape in Hong Kong and offer everyone a chance to learn more about Time Auction’s platform which provides diverse volunteer opportunities, and the empowering rewards you could redeem with volunteer hours.

  Volunteering opportunities are provided by HKUST Connect for the HKUST community, however, we also encourage you to explore on your own for volunteering services and organizations that align with your values and sense of purpose! You may find more information on where to volunteer here.

   

        Other Activities:

  • Activities organized by student organizations

  • Staff Association
  • The Center for Language Education regularly organizes chat activities for different languages and topics.

• Rock, Relax, Reconnect Campaign

  The Rock, Relax, Reconnect campaign embodies our holistic approach to well-being with several key elements in mind:

  • Rock: Encouraging individuals to embrace a moment of respite by rocking gently on these inviting chairs.
  • Relax: Creating a relaxation zone as sanctuary for individuals to unwind, recharge, and find solace amidst their busy schedules.
  • Reconnect: Inspiring individuals to pause, reflect, and nurture themselves, fostering deeper connections with their inner selves and with others.
• Rock Your Chair Reel Competition

• The Rock Your Chair campaign celebrates wellness and creativity as integral components of sustainability. By encouraging students to share their experiences with the rocking chairs through creating reel videos, we are fostering a culture of relaxation and socializing on campus through encouraging students to take a break and unwind in the chairs.

  We were glad to receive different submissions for this competition, check out the winning videos on our Instagram account.  

• Rocking Chair Relaxation Pop-Up

  With the popularity of these chairs, we are rolling out another campaign to place these chairs around campus as relaxation pop-up station. Keep an eye out for these oases of tranquility on campus and share your suggestions on where these havens of relaxation should be placed!

  In a bustling academic environment where rest is often overshadowed by relentless activity, these rocking chairs hope to stand as reminders of the profound impact of self-care. Remember, amidst your busy schedule, taking a moment to rest, recharge, and simply be is just as crucial as any achievement we aim to accomplish.

• Constructing a Butterfly Garden: The You Will See a Birdwing project aims to build a Butterfly Garden. Through this project, community members can increase their awareness of nature and relax themselves through visiting the Garden.

• Napping for Mental Health Enhancement: This Staying Smart by Taking a Nap project consists of two phases, with the aim of promoting sleep hygiene and improving students’ mental health. Two new nap pods will be implemented. Through surveying the nap pod users, it is hoped to investigate the effectiveness of nap pods and other healthy sleep behaviours on students’ cognitive functioning and stress management.

• Circadian Lighting: The Total LED Circadian Rhythm On Bluetooth Mesh project aims to implement circadian lighting on HKUST campus to improve the wellbeing of campus users, conduct research on the relationship between human behavior and lighting, and reduce energy consumption by upgrading existing lighting systems.

• Smart Sounds in Common Area: As an artistic and micro-therapeutic extension of SmART Steps, the SmART Sounds project seeks to introduce acoustic interventions in select areas of the campus to:
  - Complement artwork in SmART Steps stairwells.
  - Introduce sounds from nature proven to reduce stress hormones.
  - Create a sense of anticipation for experiencing spaces with acoustic interventions.
  - Facilitate faculty-student-staff collaboration in designing, installing, and studying the effects of these acoustic interventions.

• Smart Steps to Encourage Walking: Using our stairwells as a “living lab,” this SmART steps project combines public artwork and applied research to study the relationship and benefits public art exhibits and workplace health. This project seeks to transform the stairwell experience by lifts 3, 13-15, and 17-18 through two different types of visual arts installations, including those led by faculty and students.