UNAIR NEWS – Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) and KTH Royal Institute of Technology are committed to conducting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) partnership by signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The collaboration started with a visit from the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Digitalization, and Information, Prof. dr. Muhammad Miftahussurur MKes SpPD KGEH Ph.D. and Head of UNAIR SDGs Center, Bayu Arie Fianto SE MBA Ph.D. to the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2022. Prof. Miftah believed that the KTH Royal Institute of Technology is the most suitable partner for SDGs collaboration.

“KTH has implemented the SDGs effectively, One of them is by optimizing the collaboration programs with the industry. They also have established an institution focusing on handling SDGs programs,” Prof. Miftah said.

On November 8, 2022, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology visited UNAIR as a follow-up to collaborative discussions related to SDGs and inbound students. UNAIR hosted the KTH representatives at the Balairua and Kahuripan Hall, which was attended by the Vice-Rector for Research, Innovation, and Community Development, Prof. Dr. Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih, M.Si., and the Head of the SDGs Center, Bayu Arie Fianto, SE, MBA, Ph.D. Apart from the discussion, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology representative, Prof. Björn Berggren, also gave a guest lecture for the students, the SDGs faculty ambassadors, and the volunteers.

The agenda was followed by the visit from three students from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, on March 24, 2023. The students, Sofia Anderssons, Sophie Folkeryd, and Amanda Mona Zainned, are interested to learn SDGs at the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) Universitas Airlangga for a semester.

Amanda said that the visit for research is related to SDGs 6, clean water and sanitation in Surabaya, which will be compared to other regions.

“We would like to conduct research on SDGs 6, clean water and sanitation. We explored the issue of consuming the collected rainwater in Surabaya. We will compare it to the rainwater harvesting system in Bermuda island,” she said.

Bayu stated that SDG 6 is one of UNAIR’s SDGs flagships, particularly in the ranking of THE Impact on SDGs achievements.

Author: Agung Santoso

Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia