GEEF

With growing awareness of higher education’s role in achieving the SDGs, recent years have seen notable progress. This Plenary Session elaborates on the UGC and HESI’s founding objectives and explicate each organization’s unique characteristics. We would also like to share successful collaboration experiences in SDG achievement, encompassing various cooperative activities, including co-research, and highlight how these cases have significantly contributed to realizing the SDGs.

1.   Background and Rationales

 The Arctic, comprising the land territories of the Arctic States and the Arctic Ocean, stands as one of the most vulnerable regions facing environmental crises. Despite its physical distance from Asia, events like Arctic cold waves demonstrate its environmental interconnectedness with the rest of the world, including Korea. This relationship is significantly intensified by climate change. Consequently, environmental protection in the Arctic transcends regional concerns, becoming a global imperative. This session aims to review and reflect the Arctic’s responses to diverse environmental challenges. While significant strides have been made in environmental protection, numerous issues persist, such as marine plastic pollution and the promotion of sustainable shipping. This panel seeks to review past efforts and reflect future actions necessary for environmental protection in the Arctic. Additionally, it will serve as a platform to strategize actions for change to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in this critical region.

2. Session Objectives    - Discuss global and regional initiatives addressing marine plastic pollution in the Arctic

- Exchange insights on the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing green shipping practices

- Highlight scientific contributions aimed at resolving environmental issues in the Arctic, including research on Permafrost

This session highlights key World Bank projects that exemplify alignment with the SDGs, focusing on their impacts in areas like clean energy and urban resilience to illustrate sustainable development in action. We would also like to emasize the Global Center on Adaptation’s role in enhancing project resilience and adaptation, acknowledging its contributions to sustainable development strategies.

The session will feature speakers who are dedicated to creating social impact through business towards achieving the SDGs. These speakers are active in various fields, including expertise in areas such as addressing food resource issues through upcycling, providing financial support to marginalized populations through earned wage access solutions, furnishing extensive growth opportunities for children and adolescents, and using design to address social issues. Engaging in discussion with these speakers will further enhance understanding and empathy towards the SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 4: Quality Education, and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

This session features the Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment (IGEE) and Yonsei University's commitment towards sustainability. By analyzing scholarly works by researchers from Yonsei University, we would like to suggest the roadmap that Yonsei University should aim for as a leading and "engaging" university.