Efforts and Strategies of 3 Universities in Supporting SDGs Goals to Develop the Country

This international webinar event was held on October 30 2021, opened by the MC by welcoming speakers and participants from Indonesia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In this webinar event there were 3 speakers, namely Dr. Bayu Arifianto, SE., MBA., Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Claire R. Palma, M.Sc., RPh., and Prof. Dr. Neeraj Mahindroo. This English language international webinar was held virtually with the theme "Implementation of International Partnership in Developing Countries to Support the Achievement of the SDGs".

The speech was delivered by the Deputy Dean II of the Faculty of Pharmacy Universitas Airlangga , apt. Mahardian Rahmadi, M.Sc.Ph.D. he said that this webinar was also the 58th anniversary of the Faculty of Pharmacy Universitas Airlangga and the 68th anniversary of Universitas Airlangga itself. He expressed his gratitude for the speakers' willingness to collaborate in the virtual webinar held by the pharmacy faculty. He also hopes that with this webinar, the speakers can share knowledge about research related to the SDGs theme raised in the webinar so that listeners can gain insight into making the world better.

As the first speaker, Dr. Bayu Arifianto, SE., MBA., Ph.D. with the title of the material presented "Sustainable Development and Higher Education: The Indonesia Experience". He said that there were 3 Development Settings in the UNDP plan (2018-2021). The first is eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, then there is accelerating structural transformation, and building resilience to shocks and crises. Apart from that, he also explained the 17 SDGs Dashboard in Southeast ASIA. One of the things that Indonesia is focusing on to overcome is the absence of poverty and hunger, but since COVID-19 occurred in March 2020, this aspect has become a crisis.

Some good practices in ASEAN are regional programs that are suitable for schools, the ASEAN SDGs leading city program in green and clean development, the development of sustainable inclusive promotions to improve welfare groups in Vietnam, the Dottoratta program in Makassar Indonesia by bringing health workers directly to patient's home. He also conveyed what aspects Indonesia is focusing on in dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic as well as UNAIR's own contribution to efforts related to the SDGs.

Then turned to the second speaker, namely Asst. Prof. Claire R. Palma, M.Sc., RPh. which presented the title "Strategies of Centro Escolar University-School of Pharmacy towards Achieving SDGs in the Philippines". He explained that the targets or goals of sustainable development in the Philippines are first related to population, prosperity and planet, and peace. The meaning of population is not far from Prof.'s explanation. Bayu previously, for example, was related to poverty and hunger. And one aspect with another must balance each other, so that it will create peace.

CEU-SOP is one of the higher education institutions that focuses on education, research and community engagement which has demonstrated its contribution to SDGs efforts. The priority is SDGs number four, namely regarding the quality of education. He also explained what CEU-SOP had achieved in contributions related to the SDGs.  

Apart from that, he also said that CEU provides free USPEP and tablets for online classes for special scholarship students, Vietnam provides many scholarships for undergraduate students who have good grades, herbal plantation projects for SDGs number 2, 15, and 12 along with programs virtual cooking experience about culinary and herbal use. 

Regarding SDGs number 13, namely climate action, one of them is the "no styrofoam" rule. He stated that research also has an important role in achieving the SDGs.

Then the last speaker was Prof. Dr. Neeraj Mahindroo with the title "Achieving Sustainable Development Goals - Role of Higher Education Institutions in India" which comes from India. He stated that "partnership" in achieving the SDGs is something that is very important and is a very big strength, such as helping each other, collaborating in research, and so on.  

He also said that the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) India divided SDGs into 3 parts, namely welfare, environment and economy. One of the roles of universities in the SDGs is in research on climate change and global warming, fundamental research related to understanding nature and ecosystems, training, capacity building, partnerships, and so on.

In 2020, India made national education regulations in the framework of the SDGs, one of which is related to the quality of existing universities and colleges which contain programs with the aim of improving the quality of education in India. Examples include global learning goals with affordable premium education, teacher education programs, support in the education of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and so on. He stated that in India, there is a program with the slogan school or higher education is for a better life which contributes to the SDGs. Apart from that, there are many student scholarships there.

After the third speaker finished delivering the material, the webinar continued with questions and answers to questions addressed to the speakers and was closed by the presenter after reading several announcements. The webinar event went smoothly and it is hoped that by holding it, it can provide a lot of insight for the listeners who attended the webinar.