Future Earth discussed “Sustainable Development Goals and Future Earth” in Korea

The expert seminar held on 16-17 November 2018 in Jeju, Republic of Korea, explored possible partnerships to foster achievement of the SDGs by 2030.

What can we do to stop the ongoing phenomena of global change and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the future?  25 experts put their heads together and exchanged their ideas to find the solutions at the seminar co-organized by Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders (CIFAL) Jeju and Seoul National University Asia Center (SNUAC) in Jeju on 16-17 November 2018.

The CIFAL Global Network is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and CIFAL Jeju is one of the 17 training centres composing the CIFAL network worldwide. It aims to develop and strengthen the capacity of government authorities and civil society leaders to advance sustainable development by offering a variety of training and networking opportunities.

Future Earth is a global initiative and network to promote scientific research on sustainable development to find solutions to global change.

This year the seminar was promoted in cooperation with Future Earth Korea National Committee with a special visit of Dr. Fumiko Kasuga, Director of the Future Earth Global Hub – Japan delivering a keynote speech on Future Earth’s engagement for the SDGs.

The seminar was divided into four parts with two or three presentations each session and following discussion, where the experts in various fields such as agriculture, environment, social science, and tourism shared their ideas and efforts to contribute to the SDGs. Here are a few of the highlights below.

In the first session, Dr. Son Won-keun from Jeju National University introduced the concepts of one health and proposed the possible measures to be taken to attain health for people, animals, and the environment. The second session followed with a presentation of Dr. Um Eun-hee from Seoul National University on eco-tourism and sustainable society-environment through specific cases of the South Asian countries like Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam. The third session resumed the next day with a presentation of Mr. An Choul-jin from CIFAL Jeju speaking about the development of eco-platform through international development and cooperation between Thimphu, Bhutan and Jeju, Korea. The seminar was wrapped up with an open discussion facilitated by Dr. Yoon Soon-chang, Chairman of Future Earth Korea National Committee.

The seminar encouraged the participants to identify the common interests among the experts and explore possible partnerships to foster achievement of the SDGs by 2030.