The 3rd UNTA Sustainability Course, which was jointly organized by the International Affairs Office and the Department of Tropical Agriculture, started on March 23 (‘22) and ran for a nine-week period. The online course covered a variety of themes, including energy, greenhouse gases, animal vaccines, and ecological conservation. International and inter-university in its design, teachers from different countries and different universities were invited to give lectures throughout the course. These teachers lectured from IPB University (IDN), University of Brawijaya (IDN), RMUTI (THA), Meizhou University (THA), Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (VNM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (MYS) and National Pingtung University of Science and technology (TWN). The course provided students with a better understand the meaning behind the Sustainable Development Goals and promoted the spirit of the United Nations’ 17 SDGs.
For each session, one hour was dedicated to the lecture which was followed by a 30-minute question and answer period. At the end of the semester, students were called conduct interviews with local people on topics related to a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of their choice. The students were then to present the content in a short video at the final class. This new edition allowed the teachers and students to stimulate and inspire one another as they exchange opinions and share experiences related to their topics of discussion.
For their themes of exploration, students from NPUST chose “Environmental Issues”, “Gender Issues”, and “Links between Environmental Issues and Industry”. The first of these examined the “practicality of environmentally friendly tableware”, “the impact of pollution on Xiaoliuqiu’s sea turtles”, and “water shortages in Taiwan”. Those reporting on the second theme interviewed people on their thoughts and opinions about “homosexuality”. For the third theme, students discussed “reprocess agricultural wastes to create fish feed additives” and “achieving sustainable operations by using scientific management in the pork industry”. The students from IPB University presented ton “Orchid Conservation” and their peers from the University of Brawijaya examined “Rice Planting”. Each of the presenters were assessed for their work, and awards were given out. When the final results came in, the “Gender Issues” group took first place, “use of agricultural wastes for fish feed” came second, and “sustainable pig industry operations” took third.
