Sustainable development leader visits Auckland
27 April 2018
Professor John Thwaites, chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and co-chair of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Leadership Council, was recently hosted by the University, an institutional member of the network.
The network aims to mobilise the tertiary education, business and civil society sectors to achieve the goals agreed by 193 countries.
Professor Thwaites was in New Zealand to attend our inaugural sector-wide summit on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals cover 17 major challenges all nations face in transitioning to socially just, economically sustainable and ecologically integral societies. They fall into five categories: people, prosperity, peace, planet and partnerships.
Convened and hosted by Victoria University of Wellington, the 300-plus attendees at the New Zealand Sustainable Development Goals Summit hailed from non-governmental organisations and businesses, as well as government agencies. A strong focus on action moving forward characterised the summit and was supported by a determination among all attendees, including government representatives, to progress implementation of the goals in New Zealand.
Manager of the University’s sustainability office, Dr Lesley Stone, who attended the summit and hosted Professor Thwaites during his visit to the University, notes that the goals tend to be inter-linked and so the summit focused on action and enabling mechanisms, rather than the details of each specific goal. However, it was clear that child poverty, health and inequality, as well as the degradation of our waterways and biodiversity, were front of mind for many panellists and attendees. Children’s Commissioner, Judge Andrew Becroft told a poignant story of a young man who epitomises the enormous challenges faced by marginalised children in New Zealand. Through the story he showed how the struggles this young man faced as a child and their heart-breaking consequences could all be linked in some way to one or more of the SDGs.
Lesley is confident that the summit raised awareness of concrete actions that can and need to be taken to address these challenges, and the role the SDGs can play in doing so. She was pleased that Professor Thwaites was able to stop over in Auckland, particularly given that the next summit will be held here.
John’s visit was a great opportunity for an update on the work of the regional network, including Australia’s own SDG summits and their Voluntary National Report to the UN on the SDGs
“He was able to meet directly with groups of mainly academic staff whose research and teaching is directly relevant to the SDGs, and to share his insights on the New Zealand Summit and the role our University can play as we prepare to co-host with AUT University the next Summit in Auckland in 2019.”
Dean of Science, Professor John Hosking, and Associate Dean (Sustainability), Dr Niki Harré, hosted one of the meetings together with members of the faculty’s Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award-winning Sustainability Network. Professor Thwaites also met with Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor John Morrow, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Equity), Trudie McNaughton and Director, Research Strategy, Robyn Hill during his visit en route to his home base of Melbourne.
To register interest in the University’s own response to the SDGs, please contact Lesley Stone.