Philosophy of Sustainable Development (SD) in Higher Education (HE)

According to the definition of Brundtland Commission (1992) of the United Nations, “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The basic element of sustainability is the economic aspect to support the business in short term. For business survival and expansion, issues relating to the customers, suppliers, organizations, and the community must be considered in strategic planning, strategy implementation, performance measurement and process review. Environmental considerations in the core and supporting processes may also definitely contribute to sustainable business.

Besides, the study of Louw (2013, p. 56) mentioned that UNESCO called for educational sustainable development in the coming 10 years with the four main goals identified in relation to education, that is, rethinking and revising education from nursery school to university to include a clear focus of current and future societies on the development of knowledge, skills, perspectives and values related to sustainability. In order to fulfill the needs of UNESCO and increase the employability of learners, this forum focuses on exploring ways to increase the awareness of the followings put forward by UNESCO:

• Respect for others, including those of present and future generations;
• For differences and diversity;
• For the environment, and
• For the resources of the planet we inhabit.

The ultimate aim of the forum is to align with the OECD Action Plan for Youth mentioned in the 3rd UNESCO-APEID Meeting on Entrepreneurship Education that making the education system more relevant in preparing young people for the world of work through developing awareness of educators, policy-makers and industry practitioners about the importance of sustainability development in higher education and the linkage between sustainability development and supply chain management in the operations of key industries in the Asia Pacific Region in the hope that educators can develop more relevant programmes and modules to learners with higher order skills, e.g. problem-solving and solution-seeking skills for global employability.

Objectives of the Forum:

• Launch the Sustainable Development in Higher Education network (SD in HE – Net)
• Share the current approaches, projects and good practices in higher education institutions and industries of sustainability education.
• Identify potential areas of joint activities.
• Discuss 2nd forum on Sustainability Development in Higher Education (SD in HE) and other follow-up activities for 2016.

Key resources:

• Speaker booklet   [pdf, 860kb]
• Synopsis   [pdf, 320kb]
• Press Release (English)   [pdf, 560kb]
• Press Release (Chinese)   [pdf, 720kb]

For further information, please contact:

• Dr. Shirley Mo-ching Yeung (Forum Convener), Assistant Professor, Supply Chain and Information Management Department, School of Decision Sciences, Director, Centre for Corporate Sustainability and Innovations, Hang Seng Management College

• Ms. Rainbow Chan at Forum Secretariat, Organizing Committee of the Symposium on Sustainability and Bamboo, 8/F Block D, Hang Shin Link, Siu Lei Yuen, Shatin, Hang Seng Management College, tel: 852- 3963 5530 fax: 852-3963 5332, email1: rainbowchan@hsmc.edu.hk email2: hackmanlee@hsmc.edu.hk, website: www.hsmc.edu.hk