Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), in collaboration with The Royal Danish Embassy to Bangladesh, DANIDA, The University of Southern Denmark (SDU), BGMEA, and Bangladesh Employers’ Danish Fellowship Centre, Federation is going to organize a workshop to address the sustainability problems in Bangladesh. The primary purpose of this workshop is to bring together national-international universities, companies, and the government to lead to the creation of a sustainable future for Bangladesh. The honorable Vice-Chancellor of AUST said, “Bangladesh, though made significant progress in digitization, but lots need to be addressed for sustainable development, introducing compliant technologies with the SDG goals. AUST is already working for sustainable development in the RMG and Leather sectors together with the international partners DANIDA, the Danish Embassy, Aalborg University and the University of Southern Denmark”.

The distinguished Professor Dr. Jan Vang of SDU, Denmark, said, “Bangladesh faces a good number of sustainability challenges, and global companies increasingly expect that Bangladesh can deliver green and socially sustainable products to the relevant suppliers, and also, solving the sustainability challenges is paramount to Bangladesh’s long-term prosperity”. The idea behind bringing the different organizations together in the workshop is that grand societal challenges and sustainability cannot be solved by any organization alone; it needs close collaboration between the above-mentioned organizations. According to AUST Professor Dr. Morshed, “the Triple helix refers to close collaboration between universities, government agencies, and private companies.” The Danish embassy is contributing substantially while Universities provide various sustainable ideas for projects and industries, and the government is supporting to implement the ideas.”

Professor Dr. Peter Hassle of SDU, supplements: ‘Solving the problems related to sustainability in a way that ensures growth of private companies is of essential importance to Bangladesh. Global buyers are increasingly incorporating sustainability and climate concerns into their sourcing strategies, and without the ability to comply with these demands, the companies will not be able to export in the future. Bangladeshi companies are aware of this challenge, and several factories in Bangladesh, e.g., the garment industry, is at the forefront of introducing green production methods. However, the more complex problems cannot be solved by private companies alone.”

In the workshop, the participants will be introduced to a large number of Triple Helix success cases that will depict exemplary ways to overcome initial barriers. These insights are hoped to inspire the participants to identify the type of sustainability problems most in need of being solved and develop solutions to the problems. This workshop will smooth the way towards achieving different sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh, such as good health and well-being, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation, and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and partnerships. Moreover, this will set a landmark of industrial and academic collaboration, and help increasing the productivity of the relevant industries existing in Bangladesh, This will further contribute to the growth of the nation’s GDP while attracting more international partners and collaborators.

The two-days long workshop will be held at AUST on 14-15 December 2022. The honorable Pro Vice-Chancellor of AUST will inaugurate the workshop. This workshop will have more than 70 participants from Bangladesh and abroad.

Prof. Dr. Abu Tweb Abu Ahmed, Vice-Chairman, Board of Trustees, AUST, Prof. Dr. Mohammed Mahbubur Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor, AUST, Prof. Dr. Mustafizur Rahman, Treasurer, Registrar, Deans;,and Heads of AUST were present at this Press Conference.