The secretariat of the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings invited seven universities, including National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (Taiwan), Universitas Diponegoro (Indonesia), Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and Mahidol University (Thailand), Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (Turkey), University of Pécs (Hungary), and October 6 University (Egypt) to jointly organize the “Sustainable Universities: Global Practices on Sustainable Development Goals” online course. The course officially started at 6 pm on September 13, 2023 in Lecture Hall 113 of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) International College. Around 70 students from NPUST are enrolled in the course together with more than 80 international students who joined online. The presidents of the co-organizing universities addressed the students remotely via recorded video messages, and Dr. Junaidi, Vice Chairman of GreenMetric explained the purpose of the course. Vice-Dean Yuh Tzean of the NPUST Office of International Affairs gave a course overview, and provided a detailed explanation of the classroom approach and learning obligations for the 17-week course.
President Chin-Lung Chang of NPUST said: “NPUST cooperated with the UI GreenMetric World University and six other universities from different countries to put this course together. This is not just a course, but a mission with the purpose of cultivating global citizen awareness, inspiring innovative thinking, and empowering a new generation with the mission of building a sustainable world. NPUST is honored both to participate in and host this course.” Prof. Riri Fitri Sari, chairman of the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking and professor at the University of Indonesia (UI), said “we have taken solid steps to achieve sustainable development goals by providing students with knowledge, through education, to actively participate in the sustainable development of the world. We hope that students will take full advantage of the classroom opportunities to communicate and learn with teachers and students from all over the world.”
Four synchronous courses are scheduled over the teaching period, during which time the instructors will records relevant course videos and upload them to the teaching platform. After watching the videos, the students must submit their learning experiences. The students enrolled in the course will also be divided into groups of 10, and the teachers from the co-organizing schools will lead the students in discussions on sustainable issues. The students will then need to research the issues of interest to them and make a report at the end of the semester, presenting challenges and solutions. Three NPUST professors, including Assistant Professor Yuh Tzean of the Department of Plant Medicine, Assistant Professor Hsing Chieh Wu of the International Degree Program in Animal Vaccine Technology, and Emeritus Professor Liang Chou Hsia will provide lectures for four weeks. The themes they will cover include: “What is sustainable development”, “Saving biodiversity”, ” A brief discussion on sustainable animal production and health based on research and development of animal vaccines”, and “Animal husbandry greenhouse gas problems and solutions “. The purpose of this course is to allow students to better understand the significance of sustainable development goals while learning about each other’s countries, cultures and sustainable development efforts. Hopes are that future leaders will have a more comprehensive understanding of challenges related to sustainable development, and that they will be able to promote cross-border communication, cooperation and experience sharing so that the next generation can move towards the goals of a common good for the world together.
