On July 1, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the world’s largest network of experts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), released a joint statement in support of the “UN Summit of the Future.” Okayama University was the only University in Japan that expressed its support for the statement for the Summit, and President NASU Yasutomo, Vice President for Global Engagement YOKOI Atsufumi, and UNESCO Chair Holder were listed as endorsers. The Summit is positioned as the most important meeting in the history of the United Nations to consider our future at the UN General Assembly scheduled to be held at UN Headquarters in New York this September, and 127 university presidents and other experts from 59 countries have expressed their support for the Summit.

The statement reflects the exchange of opinions at the SDSN Asia-Pacific Region Online University Presidents’ Meeting held on May 14, which President Nasu and Vice President Yokoi were invited to attend. Okayama University has been actively preparing the statement since Okayama University is the first UNESCO Chair for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Asia, and by introducing our University’s SDGs University Management, which received the Japan SDGs Award Special Prize, and sharing some of our collaborative projects with UN agencies. In addition, Vice President Yokoi became a member of the Leadership Council of SDSN Japan in April, further strengthening the partnership between the University and SDSN.

This statement articulates the specific efforts of universities as institutions of higher education to support the SDGs, as institutions of knowledge, and to assist governments, businesses, and civil society in achieving these goals. It will be actively communicated in the future in preparation for the UN Summit of the Future.

Okayama University aims to contribute to planetary well-being by co-creating the desired future of the local community and the planetary society with diverse stakeholders.

○The United Nations “Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)”
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) is a global network (non-profit organizations) established by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2012 to promote the Sustainable Development Goals. It aims to find solutions to environmental, social, and economic problems worldwide and to find ways to realize sustainable societies through collaboration among academic institutions, businesses, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders and to put them into practice cooperatively.

[Related Links]
President Nasu Participated in the United Nations SDSN Asia-Pacific University Presidents Meeting
Joint Statement by SDSN University Leaders
SDSN Japan Leadership Council Member