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Asia-Pacific Symposium on Sustainable Development in Higher Education
March 4: 10:00 - March 5: 16:00
Sustainability as a driver of prosperity and peace
The Asia-Pacific region is home to some of the world’s most dynamic and diverse societies. The region is also home to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Rapid economic growth, population growth and urbanisation have resulted in the deterioration of vital ecosystems. The region is facing a range of environmental challenges, including water scarcity, air pollution, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.
In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the region, it is essential that governments, businesses, and civil society alike take action to address these challenges. The need for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region is pressing. To this end, governments need to prioritise the implementation of sustainable development policies and strategies, including those related to energy, water, waste management, biodiversity protection, and green infrastructure. Businesses also need to play their part by investing in green technologies and embracing sustainable practices like green supply chains, resource efficiency, and corporate social responsibility. Finally, higher education institutions and civil society need to engage in a meaningful dialogue and action to ensure that information needs are met. In this way, the Asia-Pacific region can make progress towards a more sustainable future.
Against this background and in order to facilitate a broad discussion on the contribution of higher education institutions to sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Symposium on Sustainable Development in Higher Education: Sustainability As a Driver of Prosperity and Peace is being organised.
As the title suggests, the symposium will provide an opportunity for sustainability experts from the Asia-Pacific region to meet, present their work, interact and network. To document their work in a lasting way, the experiences from the presenters will be documented and promoted in the book ‘Sustainable Development in Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Sustainability As a Driver of Prosperity and Peace’, to be published by Springer Nature. The book will be part of the World Sustainability Series (https://www.springer.com/series/13384), the leading peer-reviewed book series on matters related to sustainable development. All papers submitted will be subject to the standard peer-review procedures.
The symposium is an unprecedented event, mobilising the scientific community working on matters related to sustainable development in higher education in the Asia-Pacific region in a way never seen before.
- The Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS), Hiroshima University, Japan
- Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management” , Germany
- Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
- Professor Walter Leal, Head of the Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management” , Hamburg, Germany
- Prof. Ayyoob Sharifi, The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, Japan
- Prof. Shinji Kaneko, The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, Japan
- European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR)
- Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP)
- UK Consortium of Sustainability Research (UK-CSR)
- German Consortium of Sustainability Research (DEKONA)
- Center for Peaceful and Sustainable Futures (CEPEAS). The IDEC Institute
The meeting aims to congregate representatives from universities and research organisations in the Asia and Pacific region on the one hand, but also from companies and enterprises on the other, working on matters related to sustainable development in a higher education context. It also aims at providing a platform for the exchange of information, paving the way for technology transfer and networking.
Furthermore, the Symposium intends to provide a fertile basis upon which organisations in the Asia and Pacific region may cooperate more closely in this key area.
The event will be of special interest to researchers, students, project managers, representatives of NGOs and enterprises working on sustainability in higher education, in the Asia and Pacific region. In particular, small and medium-sized colleges, which are not often present in international events, will have in the Symposium a good opportunitiy to present their work, and for deep interactions with like-minded experts from both regions.
The Symposium will offer experts from the in the Asia and Pacific region an opportunity to meet and discuss the wide range of approaches and methods which are currently being used -or which will be deployed in the future- in order to further the cause of sustainability in higher education.
The experiences from the presenters will be documented and promoted in the book ” Sustainable Development in Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: sustainability as a driver of prosperity and peace“, to be published by Springer Nature. This is part of the World Sustainability Series, the leading peer-reviewed book series on matters related to sustainable development. The peer-reviewed nature of the book means that contributions to them have been officially counting over the years for promotion and tenure purposes.
The event will be structured around 5 main theme clusters:
- Theme Cluster 1: Campus greening and operations
- Theme Cluster 2: Sustainability and the Curriculum: teaching on, about and for sustainable development
- Theme Cluster 3: Sustainability research
- Theme Cluster 4: Community engagement, cooperation
- Theme Cluster 5: The nexus between peace and sustainability
The organisers are happy to consider other topics. Please contact the organising committee if you wish to discuss an additional theme.
The Symposium will be held in Hiroshima, Japan, on 4-5 March 2024. Hiroshima is one of Japan´s major hubs, and has its own airport. The event is hosted by Hiroshima University. The details on the exact venue and travel information will be shared with registered delegates.
Expressions of interest to attend the event, initially consisting of a 200 words abstract outlining the paper and with the full contact details of the author(s) should be
sent to the organising team at: FTZ-Events( at )hamburg.de and to Joao.Eustachio@ haw-hamburg.de
The submission deadline for abstracts has been extended, allowing authors to submit their abstracts until October 30, 2023. Full papers must be submitted by December 15, 2023. Further instructions will be provided to the chosen authors.
In other to offset some of the costs with the organisation of the event, a registration fee of Euro 250 (plus taxes) will be charged per delegate. The fee also includes the coffee breaks and lunches during the days of the Symposium. The details on how to register will be sent to those authors whose abstracts have been accepted.