Can “a week without foreign products” help climate mitigation? Impacts of climate change may sound familiar to Hong Kong people, yet how can we lead a sustainable low carbon life and even put innovative solutions into practice to benefit our city? At the launching ceremony of the Jockey Club CarbonCare Open Innovation Lab (COIL) held on 4 July, over 180 participants witnessed the simultaneous launch of the project’s online platform www.coil.hk, and jointly came up with creative solutions to help Hong Kong respond to its climate change challenges.

A special performance of the African drums kicked off the ceremony with exciting beats.  “I have decided to cut half of my driving mileage, but ideas sharing and collaboration should be the better way to go, ”said the Hon Nicholas Yang, Executive Councillor and Advisor to the Chief Executive on Innovation and Technology when he was asked for tips on climate mitigation. Another officiating guest, the Hon Charles Mok, Legislative Councillor (Information Technology) believed that modern living should find a balance between the development of new technologies and energy conservation.

The three important themes chosen for COIL’s first year are climate mitigation, climate adaptation and resource conservation. To accomplish its mission, COIL will encourage its members to think out of the box, group themselves into innovative teams and transform ideas into reality. Three innovative video clips were shown during the ceremony, to point out the climate and sustainability challenges facing Hong Kong these days through lively and humorous dialogues. To stimulate creative thinking, participants were engaged in an ideas-jamming process under the professional facilitation by members of the International Association of Facilitation – Hong Kong Chapter. More than 40 ideas were created as a result of this interaction and sharing of thoughts, a live demonstration of how COIL promotes an open process when it comes to sustainability innovations.