TAINAN (Taiwan News) — During a seminar and research showcase on Tuesday (Nov. 15), National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) gathered scholars in and outside of Taiwan to discuss the impact of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on society and higher education.
The event saw keynote speeches by international scholars including Monash Sustainable Development Institute Director Anthony Capon and Universiti Sains Malaysia Centre for Global Sustainability Studies Director Mohd Wira Mohd Shafiei.
Capon, who presented on “The role of higher education in achieving SDGs” told Taiwan News that while there are networks such as the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) that help bring universities from around the world together in promoting SDGs, university departments and faculty tend to focus too much on their own discipline. The key to creating a cohesive, joint effort among universities, lies in not just facilitating effective collaboration between different universities but also strengthening collaboration between different departments’ faculty within the same university.
He added that the most urgent SDG issue universities must address now is the spillover of negative impacts from one country’s development to other countries. When a country burns coal, for example, the air pollution may affect the health of people outside its borders.
“SDGs are viewed as achievements for individual countries,” said Capon, when they are ultimately very global issues.
Additionally, Capon highlighted the need for a cultural change for SDGs to truly make an impact. “It is not just about science and technology — we have the technology needed to achieve SDGs. Our high-consumption, wasteful economic model is harming the natural system, and it needs to be changed to a model more in tune with nature.”
Monash Sustainable Development Institute Director Anthony Capon discusses higher education's role in SDGs. (National Cheng Kung University photo)
Shafiei, who presented on “Organizational readiness for change towards sustainability” with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) as an example, observed a few differences between his school and NCKU. The first thing he pointed out was the popularity of bicycles on NCKU’s campus and its surrounding communities.
At USM, he said, bicycles are not nearly as common, although it may be partly due to the campus’ hilly terrain. However, the school does promote electric bicycles for students instead.
Meanwhile, the absence of trash cans on the streets of NCKU’s campus and Tainan inspired Shafiei to consider the balance between supply and demand and responsible production. He believes a reason why so few trash cans are needed on the streets may be that the university and city “produces only what (its community) uses” with little excess, which is contrary to Malaysia, where foods are heavily subsidized by the government and therefore very cheap, according to him, there is a significant excess of items produced.
Regarding what difference universities can make by combining their efforts into a large-scale “team effort,” Shafiei said for a single university to create change, it would have to rely mainly on education, which is a long-term effort that requires decades for effects to show. “A network of universities has a stronger influence and produces more workable action plans… Collectively, (universities) become an agent of change.”
Mohd Wira Mohd Shafiei shares about Universiti Sains Malaysia's SDG implementation strategies. (National Cheng Kung University photo)
NCKU President Su Huey-jen (蘇慧貞), who has made dedicated efforts to incorporate SDGs into the school’s governance since assuming office in 2015, said in an interview with Taiwan News that SDGs became an overarching framework for the school’s development thanks to a group of “hardcore believers” who promoted sustainable development values. “In the beginning, SDGs were a personal belief… but I was fortunate to start with a group of people from different age groups and academic and social backgrounds.”
She added that universities, as a cultivator of young talent, must connect with the world, where borders are increasingly blurred. SDGs thus become crucial as they convey shared values, and by teaching them to students, universities help them learn the “universal language” and provide an appropriate environment to prepare them for life in society.
When asked what path she hopes NCKU will take in the future in terms of SDG development, Su, whose term as the school’s president is coming to an end, says she respects her successor’s leadership and is highly optimistic and hopeful. As there is already a “literacy” within the community and SDGs are already integrated into the school’s everyday management and operation, Su said she looks forward to seeing the values’ evolution, new inputs, and inspirations that will generate greater influence.
NCKU President Su Huey-jen says she was able to turn her "personal belief" in SDGs into the school's shared value with the help of a group of like-minded "hardcore believers." (National Cheng Kung University photo)
Lin Tsair-fuh (林財富), the vice president of NCKU’s Research and Development Office who chairs the WUN Global Research Group-SDGs in Asia, said one of the things that impressed him most about heading the research group was people’s high interest in joining international exchanges and knowledge sharing despite limited funding for projects. However, the diversity of participants also meant that there were many technical and cultural gaps to bridge.
“This meant that the same technology may not apply everywhere. Each country also has different priorities in research subjects, which range in level and scale,” Lin said. “So we had to be very adaptable in all aspects.”
However, such international joint research efforts have also yielded great benefits. “We would donate and introduce new techniques and equipment to different countries… It is a way to allocate resources internationally.”
Lin said the research group’s future goals, aside from continuing its current work in SDGs 3, 6, 7, 8, and 13, will include incorporating SDGs relating to social issues such as gender equality and social justice into its projects.
WUN Global Research Group-SDGs in Asia Chair Lin Tsair-fuh introduces to the seminar's participants the works of the group. (National Cheng Kung University photo)