The GYA, in collaboration with the International Research Center for Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), the WYSS Global Ï€ Community, and the China International Association for Science and Technology Cooperation, hosted the hybrid event “2024 Global Young Academy Asian Event – Global Ï€ Roundtable” from 28 to 30 November in the Lucheng District of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
More than 15 members attended – 8 online and 7 in person, including Executive Committee members Sri Fatmawati (Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia), Sam Chan Siok Yee (Universiti Sains Malaysia), and Francesco Maurelli (Constructor University, Germany), as well as GYA members Thao Thi Phuong Nguyen (Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam), Wang Meng (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China), Shaoshan Liu (Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society, China/Hong Kong) and Muhammad Qasim (Premium International Hospital, New Zealand).
The event focused on four key Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) topics that align with the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, 2024–2033, namely “Biodiversity,” “Resilient Cities,” “Sustainable Development Resources,” and “Fundamental Science and Public Communication.”
The discussed SDGs topics are closely connected to the ongoing work of the GYA, whose existing working groups have been actively addressing global challenges. The event’s opening remarks were given by the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in China, Siddharth Chatterjee, as well as former UN Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Erik Solheim, and GYA Co-Chair Chandra Shekhar Sharma (Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India).
Prominent scientists were invited for keynote speeches, for example. Ada E. Yonath, the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, as well as Peter Sachsenmeier, an academician of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering and a professor at Oxford University. Both speakers set an inspiration ground for discussion.
This event fostered a collaborative environment that facilitated the exchange of innovative ideas and strategies, accelerating the realization of the pressing issues of SDGs.