By AIT Public Affairs
28 June 2024: The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) participated in the International Convention on Nation-Building, Wellness & Peace (ICNWP) 2024 as one of the academic partners. The 2024 Convention, held from 26 to 28 June in Bangkok, explored a profoundly relevant theme: “Nation-Building, Wellness, and Peace in a World of Disparity.” Hosted by the Nation-Building Institute International (NBII) and the Nation-Building Institute Thailand, the event brought together numerous delegates, including senior representatives and experts from North America, Europe, Asia, and ASEAN, to discuss issues related to nation-building.
The conference aimed to deepen the understanding of global disparities and develop approaches that foster inclusive, sustainable development. It focused on exploring innovative strategies and policies, emphasizing the importance of inclusive growth and access to basic services. Additionally, it served as a platform for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and networking among participants to generate actionable insights for effective nation-building.
Highlights included panel sessions moderated by AIT Professors. Prof. Yuosre F. Badir of the School of Management moderated two sessions. The session “Shaping a Fair Future: Understanding Future Trends to Achieve Equitable Nation-Building” explored emerging trends such as technological advancements, climate change challenges, global interconnectedness, and geopolitical tensions, and their impact on equitable and sustainable nation-building. Prof. Badir integrated the speakers’ insights, fostering a meaningful dialogue that emphasized the importance of addressing disparities for sustainable nation-building.
Distinguished speakers included H.E. Prof. Dr. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Former Minister for National Development Planning of Indonesia and currently the Executive Secretary of UN-ESCAP (Indonesia); Prof. Dr. Christian W Haerpfer, President of the World Values Survey Association, on global value trends (Austria); Mr. Young-Gak Yun, President of Asia Future Institute, and Founder and Chairman of Pavilion Investment Groups (South Korea); Prof. Huang Ronghuai, Co-Dean of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, and Director of UNESCO Chair on AI in Education (China); Asst. Prof. Dr. Rugphong Vongsaroj, Executive Director of NIDA’s Future Intelligence & Strategy Unit, on strategic intelligence (Thailand).
Another session moderated by Prof. Badir was “The Collaboration Among the Public, Private, and People Sectors in Addressing Disparity: Challenges and Pathways to Success.” The session explored the collaboration among public, private, and people sectors to address disparities. It highlighted challenges such as aligning diverse interests and managing power dynamics but also emphasized the potential for success through open dialogue, trust-building, and mutual respect. Distinguished speakers included H.E. Mr. Otaka Masato, Ambassador of Japan to Thailand; Mr. Thibault Danjou, International consultant, and Expert for the European Commission (France); Dr. Kraiyos Patrawart, Managing Director of The Equitable Education Fund (Thailand); Dr. Srinivas Tata, Director of the Social Development Division at UNESCAP (India) and Mr. Sanjay Mathur, Regional Director, Asia Region, UNOPS (India).
Furthermore, the panel session titled “Peace for Nature: Restoring Balance, Sustainability, and Bridging Disparities,” was moderated by Prof. Mokbul Morshed Ahmad, Professor and Head of the Department of Development and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development. This session focused on reestablishing equilibrium and sustainability in the human-nature connection, addressing the urgent concern of inequality in resources and opportunities for sustainable interaction with the natural world. Distinguished speakers included Asst. Prof. Chol Bunnag, Director of SDG Move and Assistant Professor at Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University; Mr. Alexander Simon Rendell, Co-Founder and CEO of the Environmental Education Center, Thailand; Mr. Bas Fransen, CEO of EcoMatcher, Hongkong; Dr. Poonperm Vardhanabindu, Regional Sustainability Manager for Southeast Asia, Bureau Veritas.
AIT has been an academic partner of the annual conference since 2021, actively engaging as session chairs and presenters in the Academic Forum. Dr. Sumana Shrestha, the Director of International Affairs at the Office of International and Public Affairs (OIPA), serves as the coordinator for this conference on behalf of AIT. In addition to the roles as speakers, moderators, and presenters for ICNB 2024, AIT was represented by Dr. Sumana Shrestha, Ms. Indra Kumari, Senior Program Officer and Ms. Sirima Sirimattayanan, Senior Program Officer, of International Affairs OIPA.
About ICNWP 2024
The event brought together numerous delegates represented by local, regional and international senior representatives and experts, from North America, Europe, Asia and ASEAN, to discuss on issues pertaining to nation-building. This Conference is vital to the development of an eco-system that supports the nation to live together in an orderly manner. It aims at galvanising partnership from multi-key stakeholders to capacitate human capital in becoming good, smart and courageous people who have a shared identity, ideology and goals.
Link: https://icnb.co/
All images courtesy of the Nation-Building Institute International (NBII) and the Nation-Building Institute Thailand.
