Societies and universities cannot move forward into the future without solving sustainability problems

Yonsei University held the GEEF X AEARU 2019 Forum on its main campus in Seoul, Korea on October 30, and Yeosijae (Future Consensus Institute) hosted one of the two sessions with the title, “Future Cities, Future Universities.”

Won-Soo Kim, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and chair of the International Advisory Board at Yeosijae, began the second round of presentations as the moderator. Nam-Joon Cho, professor of Materials and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, made a presentation titled “Smart Campus Cities: Connecting People and Ideas with the Triple Helix Model.” Peter Abraham, professor of Sociology at University of Copenhagen, then talked about societal roles and the direction the future may hold in his presentation, “Community, the Value of Life and Social Safety Nets in Northeast Asian Cities.” Majdi Abou Najm, professor of Land, Air, and Water Resources at University of California Davis, gave a speech titled “The Future of Future Cities and the Sustainability of Land, Air, and Water Resources: The Role of Academia.”

The session continued with a panel discussion among professors and presidents of universities from the Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU). The panelists discussed the roles of universities and societies in reinforcing the commitment to promoting sustainable development. Specifically, the participants agreed that regional development could lead to the development of universities by catering to social networks of future cities, with a particular focus on smart cities.

The Forum was held to discuss the roles of universities and professors in  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the future direction of higher education. Over 100 distinguished guests from various sectors including the presidents of AEARU universities, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and Boao Forum for Asia Secretary Li Baodong attended the Forum. The Korean members of AEARU are SNU, KAIST, POSTEC, and Yonsei, while Peking University and Tsinghua University (China), the University of Tokyo (Japan), and National Taiwan University are also members.

Yeosijae will be holding an international forum in Beijing, China from November 2-3 under the theme “ New Era, New Civilization, New Cities.”