UGM actively participates in international collaborations to collect and measure data for the SDGs.
The Environmental Science Study Program and the Karst Study Group held the 5th Asian Trans-Disciplinary Karst Conference 2024 , a global collaborative forum for the management and conservation of karst areas. As part of this conference, a joint international cave exploration was conducted in the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat karst (East Kalimantan) and Batu Benau (North Kalimantan) with a team from China to conduct scientific data collection and mapping of the cave systems.
The conference’s culminating event featured more than 35 presenters and eight speakers from 17 countries, discussing topics such as karst hydrogeology, biodiversity, and karst management. As part of this collaboration, UGM signed a joint declaration with the President of the International Union of Speleology to establish “World Cave and Karst Day”, raising global awareness of the importance of karst conservation as a strategic water resource.
The Faculty of Geography, together with the International Research Centre on Karst (IRCK) – China, which is part of the UNESCO-affiliated Chinese Academy of Geosciences, conducted a joint research collaboration aimed at protecting tropical and subtropical karst landscapes. The visit on November 29, 2024, was a data collection activity as part of a collaborative project, the China-ASEAN Demonstration Platform for Research and Development on Sustainable Utilization of Karst Landscape Resources, initiated by Prof. Eko Haryono. During the visit, researchers from both institutions conducted karst measurements and mapping together, collecting important hydrological and geomorphological data that will be used for the formulation of sustainable karst conservation. The results of this research can contribute to international efforts in achieving the SDGs and strengthen UNESCO’s program in sustainable natural resource conservation.
UGM and UI GreenMetric held the ‘Regional Workshop on UI GreenMetric World University Rankings for Universities in Asia-Pacific‘. The UI GreenMetric itself is a ranking system that evaluates universities worldwide based on their commitment to sustainability and green campus initiatives. This regional workshop serves as a moment for international collaboration for UI Greenmetric participants whose numbers have reached 1,477 universities from 95 countries. Participants were also invited to visit several facilities at UGM to see the university’s best sustainability practices: the Animal Husbandry Development Center of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry, the Spiritual Facilities, Agro-technology Innovation Center (PIAT), and UGM Science Techno Park (STP).
References: