On 30 March 2022, NSTDA hosted the Presidents’ Forum under the theme “Transforming Research Institute to Support Sustainable and Resilient Societies in the 21st Century”. Four S&T leaders from different parts of the world were invited to share and discuss their views on how research institutes can contribute to sustainable and resilient societies. Distinguished speakers include Prof. Dr. Ya-ping Zhang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schurr, Director at Institute for Bio- and Geosciences 2: Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany; Datuk Dr. Mohd Yusoff Bin Sulaiman, President & CEO of Malaysian Industry-Government for High Technology (MIGHT); and Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan, Vice-President of Life Sciences, National Research Council (NRC), Canada.
In his presentation, Prof. Zhang discussed the implementation of the ecological conservation red lines and ecological restoration in China aiming to bring back "harmony" between human and nature. The project intends to slow-down species extinction rate, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation. The measures not only meet the main objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but also demonstrate Chinese attributes, solutions and contributions to global ecological environmental governance. He reaffirmed CAS’s commitment to providing sound science and strong technology support to achieving ecological civilization construction through scientific planning of natural reserves, scientific expeditions, species maintenance mechanisms research, biological resource platforms and germplasm bank construction, and the Overseas Science and Education Cooperation Center.
Prof. Schurr shared his perspective on how bioeconomy can be a central concept to balance the need for use and the stewardship of natural resources. As modern societies and circular economies face a multitude of global challenges, circulating materials in the industrial process can help improve the resource depletion situation and add more value to materials. He discussed how the regionalization of bioeconomy can significantly improve the impact towards sustainable production and consumption, and how new technologies can improve resource use efficiency to reduce the footprint of human activities.
In his talk, Dr. Sulaiman expressed the need of innovation to create sustainable and resilient solutions for the future. To reach that goal, the five future-defining attributes - which are innovation, partnership, resilience, inclusiveness, and sustainability - should be applied simultaneously among research institutes. He voiced concern that most countries are not investing enough into research and research institutes. Expanding the outreach and space for collaboration and inclusiveness can boost value creation and win-win outcomes. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) represents a high potential area of collaboration between Thailand and Malaysia.
Dr. Krishnan’s presentation centered around the research and innovation at NRC in supporting the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. NRC researchers devoted their expertise to meeting the most urgent pandemic needs, contributing to the government-wide response to COVID-19 and helping Canadian industry advance innovative solutions to tackle the pandemic.
To lay the foundation for the post pandemic recovery, the country will need to strengthen the domestic capacity to handle the next health challenge that may come and create the conditions for a greener, more sustainable economy and society. As this century is a century of innovation, NCR is now focusing on the Challenge Programs and new technology platform.
The discussion session moderated by NSTDA Executive VP Prof. Prasit Palittapongarnpim covered a wide range of topics, including ecological civilization, the transformation of invention into innovation, how and when the world can be transformed to bio-sustainable circular economy in the light of climate change, possibilities of new technology platforms gearing toward sustainable and resilient society, and opinion sharing regarding Thailand's Bio-Circular-Green Economy (BCG) model.
The event was summarized and closed by NSTDA President Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul. He concluded that meeting the global challenges require a concerted effort of everyone in the society. Harmony and inclusiveness are the keys towards better future. Close collaborations among the government, industry, local communities, academia, and international institutions are necessary to make this work.
The Presidents’ Forum was held in conjunction with NSTDA Annual Conference 2022 taking place from 28 to 31 April 2022. To watch the forum and download presentations, please go to: https://www.nstda.or.th/nac/2022/seminar/presidents-forum-2022-transforming-research-institute-to-support-sustainable-and-resilient-societies-in-the-21st-century/.