EligibilityThe Outstanding Community Project Award and the Outstanding Green Project Award are open to all SMEs that satisfy the eligibility for the HSBC Living Business Awards 2008. The specific projects need to be
completed or on-going in 2007 and demonstrate positive and sustainable impact on the Hong Kong community and environment.
Applicants can submit more than one entry for each of the above award categories in the same year. However, only the best entry in each award category from the same applicant will be selected for detailed assessment.
Types of projectCommunity projects that demonstrate direct and positive impact on the Hong Kong community which include but are not limited to the following types:
- Volunteering
- Helping the disadvantaged, underprivileged and unemployed
- Mentoring and knowledge transfer
- Sponsorship and giving
Green projects that demonstrate direct and positive impact on the environment which include but are not limited to the following types:
- Air emissions
- Energy efficiency
- Water management and conservation
- Waste and chemical management
- Protection of finite resources
Judging criteriaAll projects submitted will be assessed based on the following criteria:
- Scope - including the type of project, and its nature and extent
- Relevance - whether the project is aimed to address a specific community need/problem/issue or achieve certain types of positive impact on the environment
- Innovation - the originality of the project compared to similar case studies in the industry, in Hong Kong and overseas where possible
- Benefits to the community/environment - the economic, environmental and social benefits that the project brings about, as well as the completeness, accuracy and balance of the results presented to us. Quantifiable data should be provided as far as possible
- Effectiveness - the cost-effectiveness of the project by considering the inputs (in terms of time, people, money and other resources used for the implementation of the project), and the project outcomes
- Sustainability - whether the project and/or project outcomes are sustainable such that the community/environment can benefit in the long term, and further developments can be built on the project
- Practicability - whether the project itself is practical and can be adopted by other companies
Judging processIndependent judging panels, including industry and government experts, will select the winners of the awards. All decisions made by the judging panels will be final and binding. There are four steps in the judging process:
- Eligibility review
All applications will be screened for their eligibility, according to the number of employees, the date of incorporation and the project period.
- Preliminary assessment
All eligible applicants will be requested to submit a project report based on guidelines provided on the Project Report Form which will prompt the applicants to highlight their achievements in the respective project category. The information provided in the Project Reports will be assessed against a marking scheme. A maximum of three applicants from each category will be short-listed for detailed assessment.
- Detailed assessment
The short-listed applicants (maximum of three applicants for each award category) will be asked to host an observational visit and provide additional information for assessment.
- Final judging
Information on the short-listed applications (including project reports and site visit findings) will be submitted to the independent judging panels to undergo further assessments. Short-listed SMEs may be required to deliver a presentation to the judging panels to support their applications. The judging panels will then submit a report with recommendations for the winners of the two award categories to the Final Judging Panel for endorsement.
The eligibility review, preliminary assessment and detailed assessment for the Outstanding Community Project Award and the Outstanding Green Project Award will be conducted by BEC.
Application form
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