COMSATS holds international workshop in Turkey
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD: The international workshop, titled ‘Learning about Sustainability, SDGs and Global Challenges’, being jointly organized by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS); the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), has been inaugurated on Wednesday in Gebze, Turkey.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr S M Junaid Zaidi, Executive Director, COMSATS, warmly welcomed the participants and resource persons belonging to COMSATS Member States and other developing countries. Recounting the socio-economic challenges being faced by the developing countries, Dr Zaidi considered international partnerships, particularly South-South and Triangular Cooperation, pivotal for achieving the SDGs. He particularly stressed the need of collectively taking actions for preserving the environment and biodiversity and to reverse the climate change.
He considered the topics covered by the workshop extremely important for sustainable development of the countries of the South, and assured that the recommendations emerging from this activity will be conveyed to the top leadership of the developing countries. He thanked the TWAS and the TUBITAK for partnering with the COMSATS to organize the activity. He appreciated the human and technological resources available at the TUBITAK institutions and urged the participants to explore possibilities of collaboration with the same.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr Max Paoli, Programme Coordinator, TWAS, stated that the COMSATS and the TWAS were sister organizations, as both were established by Prof Dr Abdus Salam, Pakistani Nobel Laureate. Therefore, he expressed pleasure on collaborating with the COMSATS and the TUBITAK for holding the event. Highlighting the urgent need to come together for the achievement of SDGs, he shed light on importance of responsible and green consumption and production.
He informed with pleasure that the carbon footprint of the foreign participants attending the event (fuel consumed for their transportation) had been reversed through carbon-offsetting scheme (planting of appropriate number of trees). Prof Dr Orkun Hasekioglu, TUBITAK, recalled the fruitful collaboration taking place between the TUBITAK and the COMSATS and its other centers of excellence, and hoped that the activity would pave way for enhanced cooperation in the areas related to SDGs. Availing the opportunity, Prof Hasekioglu overviewed the activities and technical resources of various institutions under TUBITAK.
Related Posts
Comments