Walk for Green

Background

How often do you walk around the campus instead of getting straight onto the shuttle bus?  How far have you explored the interesting sights of our distinctive campus?  CUHK has one of the most attractive and spacious campuses in Hong Kong, and its wooded hill slopes running down to Tolo Harbour provide a beautiful natural environment in which the university’s students and staff members can pursue their academic endeavours.  The beauties of our campus deserve to be better explored and can best be explored on foot.  Walking is also a greener and healthier alternative to using vehicular transport.  CUHK has improved its walkways and installed more lifts and escalators to reduce the number of tiring uphill journeys.  Walking around our campus is now more convenient than ever.

The Programme

Walking is a good and easy way of taking physical exercise, and can also help to reduce carbon emissions.  To encourage more students and staff members to walk around the campus, the Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Office, the Estates Management Office, the Information Technology Services Centre and the Physical Education Unit have launched a new ‘Walk for Green’ initiative.  Card readers for different walking routes have been installed to record the number of trips (points) completed by ‘Walk for Green’ participants.  If you gain enough points within a specified period, you will be awarded the title ‘Green Walker’.  The ‘Walk for Green’ programme is called「大」「部」「行」in Chinese, with reference to the Chinese names for University MTR Station and the Central Campus.  The walk between these two locations is the first recommended walking route, and card readers for this route have been installed at Yasumoto International Academic Park and Ho Sin-Hang Engineering Building.  Eight card readers are now available, installed at various locations on campus.

Objectives:

1. To encourage students and staff members to walk more around CUHK’s campus

2. To reduce reliance on vehicular transport, thereby lowering air emissions generated from fuel-based vehicles

3. To build a healthier lifestyle through walking exercises

4. To explore the natural beauty of CUHK’s campus environment

Every time you take a walk on campus, you are helping to preserve our environment and are also keeping yourself healthy.  Let’s start from today!

Physical Activity Benefits

The Health Benefits of Regular Physical Activity:

• Reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and stroke
• Improve immunity, cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength and musculoskeletal growth

The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend that healthy adults should perform at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity for 5 days each week (Haskell et al., 2007).

References:

• Haskell, W. L., Lee, I. M., Pate, R. R., Powell, K. E., Blair, S. N., Franklin, B. A., Macera, C. A., Heath, G. W., Thompson, P. D., & Bauman, A. (2007). Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39(8), 1423-1434.
• Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee. (2008). Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, 2008. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services.
• UK Department of Health. (2004). A report from the Chief Medical Officer: At least five a week: Evidence on the impact of physical activity and its relationship to health. London: Department of Health.
• US Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). The surgeon general’s vision for a healthy and fit nation. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General.