Sustainability
SDSN Black sea
On Thursday October 25th, 2018, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki hosted an event for the launch of a new Sustainable Development Solutions Network node. This new node will function as a hub for sustainable development for the wider area of the Black Sea, providing a comprehensive scientific framework and policy action guide for implementing UN sustainable development goals, at a regional level.
The submission of the proposal for the establishment of SDSN Black Sea was decided during the Black Sea Universities Network Rectors' Conference on "UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in the Black Sea Region: From Science to Implementation", held on June 19th, in Thessaloniki, under the chairmanship of the Rector of AUTh, Professor Pericles A. Mitkas. Prof. Nicolaos Theodossiou, Professor of Water Resources Management at the Department of Civil Engineering is appointed as the chair of the new Regional Network.
Invited to the Event, the director of SDSN global and professor of economics in Columbia University, Dr Jeffrey Sachs, highlighted in his keynote speech the need for regional cooperation on the SDGs.
Besides protecting and preserving its vulnerable ecosystem, the SDSN Black Sea network is set out to work on some of the other pressing challenges for the region: economic transformation, youth unemployment, innovation and sustainable tourism.
Professor Dr Phoebe Koundouri, Co-Chair of SDSN Greece, presented the current assessment for Greece Performance in SDGs and pointed out the need to raise awareness of political representatives on SDGs.
Prof. Theodossiou, appointed Chair of the new Network Black Sea, pointed out the imminent need to mobilize the broad base of excellent universities in the region, tapping into their enormous potential that can be activated in the name of a collaborative effort for the SDGs. In a second step, already existing research, innovation and technology in the region will be mapped, aligning them with the SDGs and developing a set of regional priorities. While expressing his optimism for the academic community of the Black Sea region to respond to the call of the newly established network, Prof. Theodossiou pointed out that more can be done when it comes to research results and their implementation in the market, especially within the private sector.
For the network being hosted in Thessaloniki, Grigoris Zarotiadis, Head of the Department of Economics and Political Sciences at the AUoT, highlighted the role of Greece more widely in the Black Sea region and added that the project will give birth to many research, social, political and economic partnerships, always in the light of and in the direction of serving the SDGs.
"SDSN global members do not look for division, but for joining and cooperating for the global good."
by Dr Jeffrey Sachs.
by SDNS: Rectors of universities of the Black Sea and the officials of SDSN
