On 17 Oct 2011 – 18 Oct 2011 Seoul, Republic of Korea played host to the Major Groups and Stakeholders Asia Pacific meeting feeding into the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development processes (Rio + 20 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 4-6, 2012).
The meeting prepared an Asia Pacific Statement, responding to the themes set by the UNCSD, as well as highlighting the unique challenges that face the Asia Pacific region, and the potential contributions from the region to the global debate. ACTS President, Leanne Denby, was there feed into discussions and better understand the direction the region and indeed the greater international community is taking.
“ACTS has been working with EAUC, AASHA, GUNI and KAGCI to develop an international response to RIO+20 on behalf of the tertiary education sector. In order to strengthen that statement it was esstential for us to have a presence at the Asia Pacific meeting. It was a real eye opener to be amongst so many crusaders from all countries of the Asia Pacific, and get a better understanding of the adversities each area faces. After being in the meeting, it has made the role of tertiary education in reaching sustainability even clearer to me.”
ACTS members have the opportunity to comment on the statement we intend to submit, which is due on November 1 2011. Please note that all comments or suggested changes must be track changed and returned to rio20@acts.asn.au no later than October 28. We apologise for the quick turnaround and hope this doesn’t deter you from reviewing the document.
