On December 1, the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), led by Director Jeffery David Sachs from Colombia University in the USA, held an online meeting for university presidents in the Asia-Pacific Region. Both Okayama University President MAKINO Hirofumi and Senior Vice President for Global Engagement Strategy and UNESCO Chairholder YOKOI Atsufumi attended the meeting as invited guests.

The main theme of the meeting was “The role of universities in achieving the SDGs and the Paris Agreement (agreement signed at the 21st UN Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC))”. Approximately eighty universities from the Asia-Pacific region devoted to promoting the SDGs were invited to the meeting and four universities from Japan attended: Okayama University, the University of Tokyo, Hiroshima University, and Keio University.

After keynote speeches by experts from different countries, participants were divided into breakout sessions to hold discussions based on a particular theme. Okayama University participated in the session  of “Education programs for Sustainable Development”.  President Makino introduced Okayama as a global hub engaged in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and discussed Okayama University’s recent achievements. Furthermore, he promoted Okayama University’s SDGs-centered university management, which ensures a university-wide emphasis on working toward achieving the SDGs and contributing to sustainability and wellbeing, before introducing university initiatives related to global engagement undertaken in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including UN agencies such as UNESCO, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) and UPEACE (United Nations University for Peace).

The meeting ended with a message by SDSN Director Sachs, who said, “From now on, cooperation between universities and UN agencies, as well as cooperation between universities and their surrounding regions, will be of utmost importance.”

Okayama University will continue to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and carbon neutrality.

 

〇United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)

A global network of non-profit organizations established in 2012 under the auspices of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to promote the Sustainable Development Goals. With the collaboration of a variety of stakeholders, including academic institutions, private companies, and citizen groups, the SDSN aims to find and implement solutions for environmental, social, and economic problems while also finding ways to realize a sustainable society. 

Official website: Sustainable Development Solutions Network (unsdsn.org)

SDSN Japan website: SDSN Japan