UNAIR NEWS – UNAIR SDGs Festival 2023 examines universities’ role in accelerating SDG achievement in the regions. One of the speakers, Pungkas Bahjuri Ali, Expert Staff for Social Affairs and Poverty Alleviation at BAPPENAS, highlighted this topic in his presentation. The SDGs Festival is held from Monday to Wednesday, Nov 20-22, 2023, at the Garuda Mukti Hall, MERR-C Campus, Universitas Airlangga.
UNAIR Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Festival is an event that is held sustainably involving various parties, from the general public students to related industries. The event aims to support the 2023 Agenda of the United Nations (UN) and increase public awareness of the SDGs.
Commitment and collaboration
In his presentation, Pungkas Bahjuri said that 62% of Indonesia’s 224 SDGs indicators had achieved significant progress, while the rest showed conditions that would be achieved and required special attention. Therefore, he continued, to realize the 17 SDGs points, the government cannot move alone.
“The government cannot work alone to realize the 17 SDGs. We need cooperation from all parties, including stakeholders, to implement these SDGs. One party that can play an important role in making this happen is university,” explained Pungkas.
Higher education institution contribution
Pungkas said that with cooperation, partnerships, or collaboration between the government and universities, the distribution of SDGs target achievements will be wider. “If the government works alone, then only 47% of the SDGs target is achieved, and if universities work alone, they only contribute around 4%. However, when the government and universities collaborate, the results can reach more than 47%,” said Pungkas.
Next, Pungkas explained about the integration of SDGs in the Tri Dharma of Higher Education. He said that the existence of the Tridharma of Higher Education would support the achievement of SDGs points. This, he continued, can be realized through activities such as research related to SDGs points, education for sustainable development, and community service.
Center of Excellence
“Universities have very strong capital because they develop centers of excellence with the characteristics of individuals who are fast learners and have extensive knowledge, thus forming a trust. When an academic community speaks, many people will definitely believe it because it is considered a center of excellence,” explained Pungkas regarding the concept of a center of excellence.
In the end, Pungkas explained that 43 SDG centers have been established at various universities in Indonesia. “The establishment of the SDGs Center supports the implementation of regional SDGs. The role of universities is to accompany the preparation and implementation of RAD SDGs, monitoring and evaluation, and internalization of SDGs in the Tri Dharma of Higher Education,” said Pungkas.
Author: Adinda Aulia Pratiwi
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
