The Values and Understanding of Sustainable Development Goals and its Relation to Saudi Vision 2030

On December 8, 2022, the Center for Sustainability and Climate (CSC) and their strategic partner, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Saudi Network, held a workshop for the PSU faculty and staff titled "The Values and Understanding of Sustainable Development Goals and its Relation to Saudi Vision 2030."

The purpose of this session is to find out how effectively people understand all 17 SDGs and how faculty and staff can get involved in different SDG-related projects, such as curricula, research, and policy discussions, to help Saudi Vision 2030.

At this session, faculty and staff from different departments, as well as the director, associate director, and the sustainability faculty ambassador of CSC, were present.

At the beginning of the hour-long program, Professor Mohammad Nurunnabi, director of the center for sustainability and climate (CSC), gave welcoming remarks and told the newly formed CSC and SDG club about their mission and vision.

Then, Dr. Heba Khoshaim, the vice president of women's campus, gave her opening remarks. She talked briefly about PSU's journey to success on sustainability.

The panel discussion began after that. Ms. Maryam Telmesani, who is the Chairwoman of the UNGC Saudi network, CSO of MBL, and a sustainability consultant for MoC, has been the moderator of running the session. Speakers from well-known organizations and the sustainability community, such as Ms. Samer Al Amro, Director for Corporate Services & Sustainability, Accenture Middle East, Mr. Muhammed Tariq, Chief Sustainability Officer, Tanmiah Food Company, Mr. Ahmed Aljohani, Sustainability Planning Specialist, Strategy Unit, STC, and Dr. Hasan Raboui, Climate Change and Renewable Energy Specialist, Sabic, attended the panel session and made it more interesting.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member states in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

At the end of the event, there was a Q&A session where people asked and answered questions and shared their own point of view about the SDGs as well as sustainability.