KUCHING/MELBOURNE – Swinburne Actions for Sustainability Impact (SA4SI) recently hosted its third episode of its Virtual Chat series, aimed at bringing Swinburne students, academics, guest speakers, as well as professional staff into a conversation to discuss practical ways to engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations (UN) in their daily lives.
The event is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Swinburne School of Business, Law and Entrepreneurship in Hawthorn, Melbourne and the Faculty of Business, Design and Arts of Swinburne Sarawak. The conversation series aims to provide key insights into how university campuses may incorporate greater levels of sustainability into their operations.
Themed ‘Being Water Wise’, episode 3 discussed water conservation in the university’s commitment to SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. The panellists comprised Swinburne Melbourne representatives Associate Dean of Education Dr Julian Vieceli, Executive Assistant to the Dean Tania Sabatino, undergraduate student and President of Swinburne Sustainability Society Nadim Nasr, while Swinburne Sarawak was represented by alumnus and founder of community group Sarawak Eco-Warriors Mark Liao Jun.
Throughout the episode, the panellists highlighted important practices and actions that the community can take to conserve water usage in households and in the workplace. Among the key areas discussed included being water conscious when considering what type of plants to grow based on their ability to thrive in the local climate, tips for making effective use of runoff water in daily household routines, protecting water sources from pollution, as well as becoming more aware of water and fish consumption and its impacts thereof on the marine ecosystem.
The conversation also highlighted the findings from the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which was described by UN Secretary General António Guterres as an “atlas of human suffering” if climate actions are not addressed as a matter of urgency.
This led to a call of action to all registered attendees to act quickly on being part of the SA4SI community to take a more active role in engaging with the SDGs in their daily lives as SDGs do not affect one particular group in society, but rather it is a global initiative and undertaking which requires a positive shift in mindset and action to become better stewards of the world.
Swinburne Sarawak’s Dean for the Faculty of Business, Design and Arts Professor Lim Weng Marc said that one action a day is a very pragmatic suggestion.
“Multiply one action a day with 365 days in a year and you get 365 SDG actions. And that’s the impact of only one individual,” Professor Lim said.
Future episodes for the SA4SI series will include important aspects of sustainability such as ‘Gender Equality’, ‘Digitising Sustainability’, ‘Keeping Sustainable Initiative Sustainable’. Participants who wish to take advantage and be part of the SA4SI community as a sustainability champion in the community can visit www.facebook.com/SA4SI/ or email to SA4SI@swin.edu.au.
For more information about Swinburne, visit its website www.swinburne.edu.my, Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).