6th Annual CSD Conference at ULAB Concludes: Spotlight on Key Sustainable Development Themes Through Global Collaboration
The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) has successfully concluded the 6th Annual Conference on Sustainable Development from 28-30th October, 2023.
The three day long conference, themed ‘Unpacking Sustainability, Resilience, and Equity,’ featured renowned experts addressing critical issues such as climate change, green skill, loss and damage, renewable energy, blue growth, equity, mental health, resilience, and sustainable education through diverse interactive ways such as storytelling, sketching, and roundtable discussion with both online and offline participants.
The Inaugural session on October 28, 2023 was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Samiya Selim, Professor and Director, CSD, ULAB. The event was graced by esteemed guests, including Professor Kaiser MD. Hamidul Haq, Dean of School of Arts and Humanities, ULAB, the special Dr. Kazi Anis Ahmed, Board of Trustee, ULAB, Corinne Henchoz Pignani, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Switzerland, the Chief guest, Engr. Mohammad Hossain, Director General, Power Cell, Ministry of Power Energy and Mineral Resources, and lastly, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, Dean, Faculty of Science, Stamford University Bangladesh.
Following the inauguration, a panel session took place at ULAB main campus titled ‘Advancing the Discussion on Financing Loss and Damage’ chaired by Ms. Farah Kabir, Country Director, ActionAId Bangladesh. Ms. Waseqa Ayesha Khan, MP, was the special guest of the parallel session titled ‘Energy, Innovation, and Industry: A Shift Towards Renewable From Conventional Energy’. Day one ended with the session titled ‘Nexus Between Poverty, Climate Change, Health, and Mental Health’.
The second day of the conference began with the ‘V2V Session - Transitions and pathways in small-scale fisheries vulnerability to viability’ session at the Raintree Hotel, Gulshan. Researchers from the V2V Global Partnership in Asia, representing Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand presented their country-specific detailed case studies.
The last day started off with a panel session titled ‘Anecdotes of Resilience: Facing floods with Nature by our side’ that explores the interconnectedness among flood risks, associated human sufferings, and societies’ never-ending attempts to find solutions to fight inundation. A parallel session on ‘Sustainability In Education: Empowering Future Change-Makers’ also took place that addresses the key issues on the role of education (at all levels) in mainstreaming sustainability in society through education.
This was followed by a session titled ‘Identifying the Opportunities: a symposium on cultivating green skills for a sustainable future’ to co-design and co-develop innovative, practice-based, and contextualized curriculum, training materials, and guides for green skills and climate adaptation with key stakeholders. In the fourth session of the day ‘Blue Growth and Blue Justice’ initiated a transdisciplinary debate that focused on the ways to support a transformative drive towards sustainable harvesting and protection of the ocean in Bangladesh. The fifth session titled ‘Frame by Frame: SDGs in Focus’ provided a platform to the students of ULAB to channel their creativity and passion towards a purposeful cause through visual storytelling.
The concluding session, chaired by Dharitri Kumar Sarker, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, ended with a panel session to critically reassess the current ecosystem-based agriculture practices in terms of livelihoods, ecosystem restoration, and biodiversity conservation.
