2023 ABUAD Collaboration for SDGs Best Practice

ABUAD continues its collaboration with NGOs to improve SDGs awareness and education

In 2023, ABUAD has continued its collaboration with the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Dr Emem Anwana, the Faculty Research Co-ordinator at the Faculty of Management Sciences, was recently invited by the Vice-Chancellor of the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) in Nigeria, Professor Smaranda Olarinde on an academic exchange from 11 January to 15 January 2022. The aim of the visit was for Dr Anwana to engage in various sustainability in academic programmes to strengthen areas of collaboration between DUT and ABUAD, Africa’s fastest growing university.

This visit to ABUAD comes after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) partnership which was signed between DUT and ABUAD, last year, 31 August 2021. DUT and ABUAD signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which also forms part of DUT’s ENVISION2030 that is to build mutually beneficial partnerships.

The ABUAD-DUT MOU aims to enhance the international engagement and capabilities of DUT and ABUAD. To do so, it has set out two key goals which are to establish precise academic and financial arrangements and to support, as appropriate, the exchange of personnel between DUT and ABUAD and conduct collaborative research projects to innovate and address challenges identified by both or either party. The virtual signing ceremony also included the orientation of DUT postgraduate students from the Faculty of Management Sciences.

Dr Anwana explained how the partnership came about with DUT and ABUAD, stating: “On the 31st August 2021, the vice-chancellors of both DUT and ABUAD signed an MOU online which included amongst other things, to train ABUAD staff members to attain higher qualifications in both Master and PHD’s, to conduct academic exchanges amongst both staff and students of both institutions and for academic conferences and webinars to be hosted by both institutions.”

In May 05, 2022, ABUAD Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEES Institute (OGEES) in collaboration with the International Law Association (Nigerian branch) and the Green Institute, is organizing INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT with the theme CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY TRANSITION AND LOOKING BEYOND, THE EARTH’S FUTURE: THE ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN SUSTAINING INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RULE OF LAW.

The International Conference on Environmental Law, Governance, and Sustainable Development provides a timely opportunity to critically investigate practical, philosophical, and methodological approaches for addressing longstanding barriers to the effective design and implementation of environmental law.
This Conference brings together governments, business leaders, environmental educators, academics, and
practitioners to exchange knowledge experience and learn from each other on how to strengthen the implementation and application of the international environmental rule of law in Africa and beyond.

In June 5, 2021, during the World Environment Day, the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEES Institute) in conjunction with Afe Babalola University organized the 2021 edition of the World Environment Day (WED) symposium with the theme: Ecosystem Restoration. Sustainability experts drawn from the University and across the frontier host a hybrid (Online and In-person) summit time #Ecosystem Restoration for the World Environment Day, a United Nations awareness campaign for environmental protection, held annually since 1974. Participants were sensitized on GHG emissions’ management, energy utilization and conservation, advocacy on public pledge of 100% renewable energy, reafforestation, and fossil fuel divestment methodology among many others. The programme commenced at 12noon GMT.

ABUAD has continued its strategic partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to promote local awareness on aspects of the SDGs including, zero hunger, good health and well-being. Peace justice and strong institution, climate change, pollution control and conservation among many others.

In June 5, 2020, Jeffrey Sachs (SDSN), Adenike Akinsemolu (Green Institute/OGEES, ABUAD), and Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar Foundation) will be gathering sustainability experts from across the globe to host a virtual summit Time #ForNature for the World Environment Day, a United Nations awareness campaign for environmental protection, held annually since 1974.

Since the industrial era, humans have practiced dominance instead of coexistence with nature. The latest lockdown made it possible to review environmental concerns that humanity is currently facing. Scientists and most authorities agree that the world is experiencing an unprecedented ecological crisis, with large numbers of species on the brink of extinction and rising global temperatures continuing. We weren’t prepared for Covid-19, and we have paid the price – but the cost of ecological collapse and biodiversity loss will be too high, and we cannot afford to wait any longer. Perhaps, now is the time to evaluate our past, present, and future decisions to realize the future we want.

Adenike Akinsemolu, the founder of the Green Institute, a leading and multiple award-winning sustainability research institute in Nigeria and a Senior Fellow of Environment and Sustainable Development at the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Development at Afe Babalola University, Nigeria, is hosting a virtual summit Time #ForNature in partnership with Hamad Bin Khalifa University (a member of Qatar Foundation) and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network that will focus on sustainability and green education. The theme for World Environment Day, June 5, 2020, is biodiversity.

The online event will cover a range of topics such as biodiversity conservation, infectious diseases, sustainable agriculture, sustainable building, urban innovation, minimal living, waste management, renewable energy, etc. This paradigm-shifting online symposium will gather over 25 eminent sustainability leaders in different professions around the world to provide an opportunity to learn from successful cases and technologies for achieving Environmental Sustainability.

One of the keynote speakers is Jeffrey D. Sachs, who was named twice by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential world leaders and ranked by The Economist among the top three most influential living economists. Jeffrey D. Sachs will join the conversation to discuss building resilient health structures to combat novel diseases. He has been an advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General, and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary- General António Guterres. Jeffrey Sachs, being a University professor, is also the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development and the Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

“Everyday anthropogenic activities are responsible for the problems of our planet, and there is a need to salvage the situation through creativity, innovation, and critical thinking,”Adenike Akinsemolu stresses in her recent book, The Principles of Green and Sustainability Sciences (Springer, 2020), which will be launched at the event. In the book, Akinsemolu offers a detailed and step-by-step guide to understanding sustainability and discusses best practices to establish a more harmonious and balanced approach to living, highlighting her efforts in Africa and successful global cases. It is also one of the first texts, which examines sustainability issues in Africa.

Her Green Institute has already recruited more than 5,500 ambassadors and trained over 25,000 people globally. The revolutionary Trash for Education model lets hundreds of students study for free in exchange for collected waste. Its programs include the Green School, nano-degree-programs in sustainability and social entrepreneurship, The Green Kids Club, mentorship program and prizes for girls in sustainability, and research initiatives.

The participating organizations include the UNDP, Qatar Green Building Council, Qur’anic Botanic Garden, Farm Lab, Human Future, Springer Nature, Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, University of Basel, the Open University UK, TerraCycle, Design Future(s) Initiative of Georgetown University, United Nations Development Program, and the Green Maasai Troupe Doha Qatar.

Press Credentials

To request a press credential, email Kate Kifa at pr@greeninstitute.ng with PRESS CREDENTIAL REQUEST in the subject line.

For more information and the full schedule: www.greeninstitute.ng/wed2020

About

The Green Institute, a leading and multiple award-winning research institute founded by Adenike Akinsemolu in Nigeria, is dedicated to the broad sustainability discourse, and to training leaders who will systematically transform attitudes about environmentalism in Africa. Its programs include the Green School and The Green Kids Club for kids and young adults, recycling programs such as Trash for Education, nano-degree-programs in Sustainable Science and Technology, Sustainable Business and Social Entrepreneurship, and research initiatives. https://greeninstitute.ng

Adenike Akinsemolu, Ph.D. is the founder of the Green Institute, a leading and multiple award-winning research institute in Nigeria dedicated to the broad sustainability discourse and to training leaders who will systematically transform attitudes about environmentalism in Africa. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Microbiology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education. She is a Senior Fellow of Environment and Sustainable Development at the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Development at Afe Babalola University, Nigeria. Her most recent book, The Principles of Green and Sustainability Science (2020), is the first sustainability text to deal exclusively with sustainability issues in Africa while offering viable solutions for the problems besetting our societies, especially the environment and unemployment.

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Ph.D. is a University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed the Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is also Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. He has been an advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary- General António Guterres. He spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University, where he received his BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees. He has authored numerous bestseller books. His most recent book is Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020). Sachs was twice named as Time Magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders and was ranked by The Economist among the top three most influential living economists.

In like manner, the Director of Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Development at Afe Babalola University, Nigeria has been appointed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations to entrench global best practices for SDGs collaboration. This appointment took effect from 08 August 2020.

In the recent appointment into the Board of Association of African Universities(AAU), the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Prof. Smaranda Olarinde has been appointed as a Member of the AAU Board. This appointment is to ensure the best practices are entrenched in the governance of African Universities of which sustainable development goals collaboration is of high significance. Read more – AAU Inaugurates New Governing Board Members

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