For several years, governments and the media are making us aware of the global problem of energy supply and other supplies, because they affect the sustainability of the planet. However, in recent years, electricity consumption continues to increase significantly due, on the one hand, to the increase in electrical appliances in all homes and, on the other hand, to the lack of responsible consumption.

Much is said about sustainable architecture or ecological houses, but indeed - as this congress rightly says - in the end it is the life in that house that must be sustainable. In this case it is essential, therefore, to consider what is usually called human ecology, too. Inhabitants, physically and emotionally, as well as spiritually, must maintain a healthy and long-lasting equilibrium, optimising their own resources. They must not permanently consume them, but rather permit their spontaneous recovery and renewal.

This is an exploratory pilot study narrating the perception of mothers towards the career choices of their children, focusing on hospitality generally and more specifically their perception of a possible career of the home. Research or the lack of it, seems to indicate that the work of the home is not perceived as a profession therefore hospitality has been used as a bridge in this exploratory study to examine perceptions of a profession related to the home.

According to Poelmans (2001) the origin of the work/family research domain can be situated in the late nineteen seventies, with seminal works of Renshaw (1976), Kanter (1977) and Pleck (1977). Furthermore, Kanter (1977) observes that early in the twentieth century, corporations tended to take over the functions of the family by turning workplaces into independent institutions.

In the famous conference held in 1951, at the convention of architecture at Darmstadt, entitled "Building, dwelling, thinking", Heidegger observed how the housing crisis was the "crisis" par excellence, a sign of eradication and disorientation of contemporary man. Dwelling, according to the German philosopher, is the typical human way of being in the world.

In the contemporary discourse and extensive research on sustainable living and housing, little is made to investigate the phenomena of the home and the way it works. Despite the centrality of the home to aspects of sustainable living, massive research is being made to enhance the physical environment of houses to attend to the requirements of sustainability. This is, apparently, due to the fact that contemporary societies are overwhelmingly dominated by political institutions that organize behavioural moods and responses, which hinder any intelligible understanding of complex phenomena such as the home.

How does the home influence social dynamics, legal frameworks and, ultimately, entire social systems? The answer to this question lies in the understanding of the strategic position that the home holds as a microcosm within the larger community of persons. It is within a home environment that character traits and value systems of individuals are formed and developed. And if society is a community of persons, then the management of the home environment is the management of society. If the quality of the experience of family living is positive, then there is bound to be some impact on the quality of relationships, systems, and structures formed outside the home. This is the aim of sustainability living.

The term 'homework' in the title is used on purpose to stress the focus of the content of this paper. Firstly that housework is not only about the practical issues of running a building, but is also homemaking, building something much further that what is contained within four walls. Secondly, and this is essentially what this paper is trying to demonstrate, greater and deeper research is needed to stimulate study into the effects and impact of the work within the home on individuals, the family and society as a whole.

The domains of work and home are often dichotomized to the point of full separation in the minds and practical efforts of many workers today. As women have taken their place in equal numbers in the workforces of most industrialized economies they have developed competencies and strengths that result in their respective areas of paid employment. After years of success in education and increased parity in the workplace they seem to exhibit greater professional confidence than previous generations.

I am very pleased to be able to share with people from around the globe how we create homes within the community in Hong Kong. First of all, I would like to highlight that Hong Kong is very different from other cities because we live in a high-density high-rise environment. We only have 1100 square kilometres of land of which only 25% has been developed - the rest is countryside, parks and hills. 4% of our land goes towards residential uses. We have to house 7 million people in Hong Kong.