About

The 4th & 5th President of UHKA BOD

Professor Karen Q. Cheung

• President of UNESCO Hong Kong Association;
• Director of Hong Kong Institute of Education for Sustainable Development;
• Vice President of the Chinese Academic Committee of UN PRME （UN Principles for Responsible Management Education)
• Executive Director (HK) of National Working Committee for UNESCO Project on ESD
• President of World Institute of Sustainable Development Planners
• Director of Education Policy and Planning Professional Committee of Chinese Society of Education Development Strategy
• Council Member of Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency
• Executive Director of China Education and Sustainable Development Think Tank
• Visiting Professor of the South China Normal University Education Development Higher Research Institution of The Greater Bay Area
• External Consultant,  ESG Committee of BEAM Society
• Founding Member of Hong Kong Professionals and Senior Executives Association
• Director of Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers
• Honorary President of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Youth Network
• Adviser of Patriotic Education Center
• Visiting Professor of Changzhou University
• The Member of Academic Development Advisory Committee of the Professional Committee for Educational Cooperative Development in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, The Guangdong Society of Education
• Honorary President of Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Association

Prof. Cheung is a Bachelor of Business Administration, a Master of International Trade, a Ph.D of Industrial Economics. She is the Senior Fellow of World Institute of Sustainable Development Planners and Certified Sustainable Development Planner (CSDP), a Certified Risk Planner, Senior Member of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (1996-2014).

Prof. Karen Cheung has been engaged in asset management, risk management and industrial operation and development since 1991, and has actively participated in the construction of development zones and new urban areas. She has successfully completed international investment promotion, overseas financing, industrial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, etc. In 1998, as the director of the China Representative Office of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (1998-2014), Prof. Cheung has carried out international accounting qualification certification with over 20 universities in China, including Tsinghua University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Nankai University, Jinan University etc. She has served as the financial development consultant of Shanghai Pudong Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park (1998-2003), the R&D consultant of Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone (2000-2005), and the Luliang Municipal Government of Shanxi Province (2017-2022).

Since 2002, Prof. Cheung has devoted herself to the research and development of UNESCO’s education for sustainable development, and actively planned and promoted education for sustainable development projects. She was the MBA visiting professor at the School of Real Estate, Zhuhai Branch of Beijing Normal University (2004-2006), deputy director of the China-Hong Kong Cooperation Center of the Institute of Public Policy, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2007-2009), Expert Advisor & Chair of the Expert Committee, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Institute of ESD (2016-2019). Her professional fields and research directions include lifelong learning and sustainable development education, monitoring and evaluation, sustainable development planning and governance, innovative teaching, social sciences.

Presided over more than twenty international and domestic research projects, Prof. Cheung has published more than 40 papers in domestic and international academic forums and journals (1 patent, 6 software copyrights, and 10+ books), including the Ministry of Education’s comprehensive research into “China’s Sustainable Development Education Innovation Practice” (Editor: Chen Xiaoya) (2009), “Sustainable Development Planning” ISBN 978-988-79581-0-9 (2019), “Sustainable Development Goals Question Bank (Level 1)” ISBN 978-988-79581-1 (2019), “Sustainable Development Goals Question Bank (Level 2)” ISBN 978-988-79581-2-3 (2019), UN75 Dialogue Booklet “UN 75 Dialogue – Hong Kong Story” ISBN 978-988-79581-6-1 (2020), “Carbon Literacy and Low Carbon Lifestyle” Traditional Chinese – English bilingual edition ISBN 978-988-75669-4-6 (2022), “The ‘UNSDGs Climate Action’ Hong Kong Teaching Curriculum Casebook” ISBN 978-988-75669-5-3 (2023), “Carbon Literacy and Low Carbon Lifestyle” Simplified Chinese – English bilingual edition ISBN 978-7-5111-5678-5 (2024), “United Nations Global Compact Hong Kong Regional Report” ISBN 978-988-7569-7-7（2024）,“Sustainable Development Planning Lesson Notes” Bilingual Vol. 1&2 ISBN 978-988-75669-3-9, ISBN 978-988-75669-9-1 (2025) etc.

Major research projects include: the key project of the 12th Five-Year Plan of the Chinese Society of Education, “International Comparison of International Talent Cultivation in Basic Education” (Project No.: 01020149), and “Implications of International Comparison of Lifelong Education Systems and Implementation Models for Mainland China and Hong Kong,” as well as the key project of the 12th Five-Year Plan of the National Development and Reform Commission, the “Outline of the 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Gujiao City, Taiyuan”—Social Development Section, etc.

Prof. Cheung also enthusiastically participates in social welfare, environmental and ecological conservation, and practices civic social responsibility. She actively supports the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund, sponsoring out-of-school girls and impoverished college students every year. In 2000, she was appointed as Honorary Director of the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund; in 2002, she was awarded the “Charity and Caring Person”「慈善愛心人士」 in the first “China Children’s Charity Day”「中國兒童慈善活動日」, and was named “China Children’s Charity Monument”「中國兒童慈善功德碑」 on the Great Wall of China Badaling; in 2006, she received the “Women’s World Excellence Awards – Social Services” from “the Women’s World”; in 2012, she was selected as “China’s Top Ten Outstanding Management Figures”; in 2013, she was awarded “Education for Sustainable Development Pioneer Award” from the China National Commission for UNESCO ; in 2018, she was selected as “Chinese Education for Sustainable Development Outstanding Contributor” by the UNESCO China National Working Committee and in the same year, she led the Hong Kong Institute of Sustainable Development Education (HiESD) to be awarded the “Most influential region of China’s 20 Years of Education for Sustainable Development.”, and won the “Most Influential Region in the 20 Years of Sustainable Development Education in China” for Hong Kong.