PENANG, 29 October 2013 - For the first time university representatives from ASEAN countries congregated to discuss the direction and planning for future sustainability. The group called South East Asia Sustainability Network (SEASN) was established to be a platform for planning of sustainability.

The first meeting, chaired by the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Professor Dato’ Dr. See Ching Mey, was attended by 27 representatives of various institutions, including 12 Malaysian university representatives, 4 non-university institutes, 4 representatives from institutions of Thailand and 2 representatives from institutions in India.

Representatives of other agencies included WWF Malaysia, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), Northport (Malaysia) and The Sirindhon International Environment Park, Thailand.

According to See Ching Mey, SEASN was eatablished to promote sustainability in the field of higher education, NGOs, industry and various agencies in Southeast Asia.

“Moreover, it also aims to share information and best practices in the field of sustainability between higher education institutions and other organisations," he added.

USM which placed high importance on sustainability in every field of study took this initiative to voice the concerns of ASEAN countries to a higher level.

“SEASN Assembly” was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman for the first four years and for the following years, an election will be conducted ​​among the representatives of all ASEAN countries on a rotational basis.

All representatives who were present together with more than 50 other participants also joined the International Sustainability Conference 2013 (ISCO 2013) which will be held for two days, starting today.

This seminar was organised by the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS) and Professor Emeritus Dato’ Sri Dr. Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, delivered the keynote address on the first day.

ISCO 2013 will discuss the post-RIO+20 focusing on 5 key areas including Water (W), Energy (E), Health (H), Agriculture (A), and Biodiversity (B) together with 3 major cross-sectoral areas namely Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, Production and Consumption, and Poverty and Population (WEHAB+3). - Photo and Translation: Yong Check Yoon