“An International Alliance Approach to Green Development for a Sustainable Future”

China - ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Education Cooperation WeekPresentation

TheAllianceof Guangzhou International Sister-City Universities on April 26,2024presented“An International Alliance Approach to Green Development for a Sustainable Future”.Professor Guy Midgley, Director Jen Dollin,Coordinator Brittany Vermeulenand Executive Director Steve Farrfrom Stellenbosch University,Western Sydney Universityand the Secretariat Office participated in this presentation during the2024 China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week – The Green DevelopmentBijieForum. Focusing on the fields of green energy, materials, ecology, this Forum built an information exchange platform for domestic and foreign experts, scholars, and industry elites to share the achievements and experiences of green development research.

This presentationpresentedhowourAlliance collaborates with members throughout the world to develop more sustainability programs to include United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs).This collaboration across member universitieswill generateimpact through place based localized projects that focus on the sustainable urban development of cities.

This initiativeis beingled by Western Sydney University which is named number one in the world for its social,ecologicaland economic impact in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings. Proposed programs include benchmarking related projects of our members, faculty exchanges, an international symposium on “International Sustainability and Social Responsibly”, Masterclasses, Global Citizen Platforms which amplify sustainability work, a call for projects and participants to seed fund.

The challenge of global warmingwasalso addressed to include a project on the assessment of the combined risks of global warming and invasive species for ecosystems,bio-diversityand national economiesbeingled by Stellenbosch University.This area of urgent need provides our Alliance and members with the opportunity to take a global leadership role by providing an assessment of the combined risks of climate change and invasive species and how these risks can be mitigated.

OtherASEANpresenters included a Nobel Laureate from the University of California, Berkeley, university presidents, national academy academiciansfrom Europe and China,theformer Deputy Director of UNESCO,a Fellow of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, Alliance presidents, the Secretary General of Stanford University Angel Investment Fund, and distinguished faculty from throughout the world.

This was the first time our Alliance conducted a joint faculty and secretariat officepresentation for an international forum promoting thevisibility andwork of our Alliance and our members. This presentationisthe first of many future joint Allianceinternationalpresentations.