On the 9th of July the President of UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Sonia Sachs, Director, Health Sector, Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the co-Chair of UN SDSN Europe and Greece, Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, were invited by the General Secretary of the Academy of Athens, Prof. Christos Zerefos, to discuss potential collaboration of the Academy with UN SDSN.
Prof. Sachs said “Greece can become a great global hub of sustainable development education in the 21st century – and thereby a key to global eudaimonia. Greece is the unique home of Western philosophy and science. All Western ideas about ethics, science, and engineering have their roots in Greece and Magna Graecia, and Greek institutions today – such as the Academy of Athens, the University of Athens, the Athens University of Economics and Business, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and many others – have world-leading scholars in key sustainable development disciplines such as climatology, economics, and engineering.
Yet Greece could greatly expand its role in sustainable development education by expanding existing programs, building new degree programs, partnering with other global universities, hosting more international workshops and seminars, and attracting top faculty and top students from all over the world. It can do by building on Greece’s current academic strengths, and leveraging Greece’s unique strengths as a destination of great natural beauty, unsurpassed historical heritage, and founder of philosophical thought – especially about human wellbeing.”
There was strong agreement from Prof. Zerefos and Prof. Phoebe Koundouri with regards to Greece’s potential leadership in becoming a global hub of sustainable development education in the 21st century!