This year the annual GreenMetric workshop (8/23-26) was hosted online by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Dr. Riri chaired the event which was organized according to the theme of “Universities, UI GreenMetric and SDGs in the Time of Pandemic”. The theme was designed to bring together various elements of the COVID pandemic and the United Nations Sustainability Goals, and give participants an opportunity to share on related experiences according to the six subcategories of “campus infrastructure”, “energy” “water resources management”, “waste materials management”, “transportation” and “education”.

 

This year (2021) NPUST was invited to share a paper on "Water management strategies on campus: An Integrated approach", in which it highlighted ways in which the university is conserving water resources, promoting water-saving measures and applying drip irrigation technology in smart agriculture. The presenters also introduced the "Permeable Pavement Project", which was executed in cooperation with the county government to mitigate the problem of water accumulation during heavy rains. The special pavement design allows for a large amounts of rainwater to quickly penetrate into the ground, thereby improving road safety and reducing water damage. They also shared on the "Great Chaozhou Man-made Aquifer" in Pingtung which, as a vast rainwater storage, is able to increase water resources, reduce flooding, and slow down subsidence caused by excessive extractions of groundwater in the Jiadong, Linbian and Fangliao areas. This enormous water store is able to supply users with around 100,000 cubic meters of per day.

 

The workshop lasted for four days with over 100 people from of 57 countries participating in the activities. On the first day, the GreenMetric Secretariat posted introductory videos of all the participating schools on its official YouTube channel. On the following day, the 5th Steering Committee Meeting was convened and the GreenMetric Chairman, Dr. Riri Fitri Sari, and UPM Vice President, Professor Mohd Roslan Bin Sulaiman, gave speeches and welcomed the enthusiastic participation of representatives from all the schools. During the session, in addition to discussing some of the main points from last year’s workshop, focus was given to such topics as “the shaping of higher education and research in sustainable development”, “the cultivation of global sustainability leaders”, and “cooperation on sustainability challenges”. NPUST was represented by the International Director Pomin Li and Division Chief Pearl Chang who shared along with the other school representatives on cooperative sustainability activities from 2020—whether held on or off campus, domestically or internationally. Finally, discussions turned to future plans for the GreenMetric organization as well as plans for new online courses in September.

 

Other notable events included speeches provided by UPM Vice President Professor Mohd Roslan Bin Sulaiman and Malaysia’s Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Dr. Zaini Bin Ujang. During group discussions NPUST’s President, Dr. Chang-Hsien Tai also joined in and shared on the university’s water resources management—covering everything from the simple measures, like the promotion of water saving practices, to complex ones, like the development of waste water treatment infrastructure. Vice-Dean Helin Chien and other executives from the Office of International Affairs also participated in the panel discussions to discuss topics related to hardware, facilities, energy, transportation and education.

 

On the last day of the workshop, NPUST’s President, Dr. Tai, was invited to deliver a closing speech, and using a short video, he shared some of the beauty of Pingtung and Kaohsiung and the features of NPUST before inviting everyone to come to Taiwan in 2022 to be part of the 8th Workshop scheduled for next year.