On January 16th 2017, President XI Jinping of China and the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, jointly witnessed the signing of the memorandum between Tsinghua University and the University of Geneva on comprehensive cooperation on SDGs. Based on this cooperative framework, Tsinghua University and University of Geneva launched two institutes on UN SDGs respectively, marking a solid step forward taken for the two countries to cooperate on the implementation of SDGs.
photo of Inaugural Ceremony of TUSDG
On May 14th, when the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation was taken place in Beijing, Inaugural Ceremony of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals, Tsinghua University (TUSDG) and ‘The Belt and Road Initiative and Global Sustainable Development’ Forum was successfully held in the main building of Tsinghua. António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, WU Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Yves Flückiger, Rector of University of Geneva delivered messages of greetings to the inauguration of TUSDG. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed that “the establishment of the TUSDG shows this great ambition of the Chinese government and Chinese people. The TUSDG will not only improve SDGs advocacy in general but also its localization and implementation in practice. I am really glad to see the TUSDG is putting its effort on raising public awareness, conducting SDGs researches and educating younger generations and professionals. Indeed, there is still a long way to fully achieve the global sustainable development; with everyone’s effort, these goals will become to our reality. ”
photo of Geneva SDG Solution Space launch event
The University of Geneva inaugurates the Geneva SDG Solution Space, a true workshop where students, researchers, humanitarian workers and UN experts will gather to provide practical answers to the challenges of sustainable development. This institute also focuses on the 17 SDGs. This new 300 m2 facility opened its doors on May 12th, on the occasion of the third Open Geneva Hackathon which brings innovation to the heart of the city.
“Innovation may take many different forms in the context of sustainable development,” explains Yves Flückiger, UNIGE’s rector. “It’s not just commercial start-ups we’re trying to kick-start with the Geneva SDG Solution Space but also social innovations. And the outcomes will benefit Geneva and its inhabitants as well as International Geneva and its humanitarian networks, which connect us to the poorest people on the planet.” The Geneva SDG Solution Space will host students from the new Master’s degree in Innovation, Human Development and Sustainability, which was launched by UNIGE as part of the Tsinghua-Geneva Initiative. This global programme is being carried out in collaboration with International Geneva and Tsinghua University in Beijing. In addition, the two-month international SDG Summer School will begin in July in the new space: a range of fellow international organizations - such as UNICEF, WHO, UNITAR, UNOG and CERN - will help develop projects carried out by teams of muti-disciplinary students. Mao Donghui, the Executive Director of Tsinghua X-lab was invited to attend the event and share about collaboration on collaborative innovation for the SDGs in the event.
Based on the establishment of these two institutes, the two parties will continue to cooperate on joint training of international talents, promote the development of joint Master’s program and conduct cooperative researches in the field of sustainable development.
Background:
On January 16th 2017, President XI Jinping of China and the President of the Swiss Confederation, Doris Leuthard, jointly witnessed the signing of the memorandum between Tsinghua University and the University of Geneva on comprehensive cooperation on SDGs. The signing of this agreement marks the start of all-round cooperation between the two universities on joint training of students, advanced joint research, and the joint construction of a SDGs research center. To accelerate this cooperation, on January 17th, the two universities together with several international organizations and academic institutions held a roundtable in Davos on the theme of “Education for the SDGs: challenge-based learning for the planet”. During the roundtable, President Qiu Yong of Tsinghua University and President Yves Flückiger of the University of Geneva signed an agreement on the dual Master Degree of Public Policy for Sustainable Development Goals（PP-SDG）.
Housed in the School of Public Policy and Management in Tsinghua University, the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua University (TUSDG) aims to establish a leading platform to conduct interdisciplinary research and collaborate with global partners to address challenges in implementing UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By integrating theoretical learning and practical experience in the field, the TUSDG also strives to cultivates a new generation of talents who are dedicated to the implementation of SDGs and improvement of global governance. In addition, The TUSDG will make every effort at creating a high-end open platform in the research field of SDGs, attracting world-class experts and scholars to be involved in teaching and research activities. Finally, the institute aspires to become a leading think tank in China on SDG related policies through cooperative partnerships with relevant government agencies.
