By Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, and Management (DPMM) program
19 January 2024: Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has formally joined an international consortium aimed at advancing the Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) concept in South and Southeast Asia. The consortium, known as the CES-Asia Consortium, is led by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) from Japan and START International Inc. from the USA. AIT, alongside its consortium partners, will collaborate to advocate for the CES concept within city regions in South and Southeast Asia. This partnership entails facilitating knowledge exchange, expanding networks, conducting transdisciplinary research, and organizing activities to promote the CES platform.
The Consortium Agreement was signed on 17 January 2024 at the AIT Conference Center by Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, President of AIT, Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi, President of IGES, and Dr. Jon Padgham, Executive Director of START Inc., who joined online. Prof. Yamamoto expressed optimism about the consortium’s potential to expand the CES concept, emphasizing its significance in advancing environmental sustainability and societal resilience. Prof. Takeuchi emphasized the importance of localized actions in achieving global sustainability goals, highlighting CES as a means of implementation.
The signing ceremony took place during the Regional Workshop on “Traversing Interconnected Local-to-Global Action Spheres to Advance the Post-2030 Agenda“, held on 17-20 January co-organized by IGES and AIT, specifically the Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, and Management (DPMM) program, with support from START Inc., VNIT Nagpur, and Thammasat University. Accompanying the AIT President were Dr. Indrajit Pal, Chair of DPMM, and Prof. Abdul Salam, Dean of SERD. Representing OIPA were Dr. Sumana Shrestha, Director of International Affairs, and Mr. Sanjeet Amatya, Director of Public Affairs. Alongside the IGES President were Dr. Bijon Kumer Mitra and Dr. Vibhas Sukhwani from IGES Japan.
The 3-day Regional Workshop united members of the CES-Asia Consortium and close collaborators to explore the synergies in localizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and net-zero targets through the learning and action network in Asia. The Workshop aimed to delineate a comprehensive landscape of climate and sustainability paradigms, exchange local experiences on localized net-zero transitions and SDG actions, and elucidate the CES concept as an integrative approach for achieving the localization of global goals.
The three-day Workshop, held at AITCC and Pullman G Hotel in Bangkok, convened over 20 participants from diverse backgrounds, including international academics, government officials, practitioners, and policymakers.
