Global Sustainable Development Congress 2024: agenda announced

Times Higher Education’s Global Sustainable Development Congress returns in 2024 for its third edition, this time taking place in Bangkok, Thailand on 10-13 June.

The congress brings together global thought leaders and innovators to discuss urgent solutions to the sustainability emergency. By challenging the usual thinking on what higher education, governments, businesses and society must do to help society meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the congress is a call to action for global universities and businesses to pivot their educational, research, innovation and outreach programmes towards tangible outcomes.

The core plenary agenda aligns with the six societal transformations needed to achieve the SDGs, as outlined by the UN:

• Digital revolution for sustainable development
• Education, gender and inequality
• Energy, decarbonisation and sustainable industry
• Health, well-being and demography
• Sustainable cities and communities
• Sustainable food, land, water and oceans.

The congress will build on the success of last year’s event, which was attended by over 1,200 delegates and 117 speakers.

This year’s congress will host 3,000 delegates and hear from 350 expert speakers including Mohammed Al Ta’ani, secretary-general of the Arab Renewable Energy Commission; Jari Hämäläinen, vice-president of research and innovation at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology; Samantha Hung, director of gender equality at the Asian Development Bank; Jemilah Mahmood, executive director of planetary health at Sunway University; Salinla Seehaphan, director of corporate affairs at Nestlé; and Marie Studer, executive director of the Planetary Health Alliance.

View the full list of confirmed speakers here, and more will be announced over the coming weeks.

The congress will also feature the exclusive live reveal of the THE Impact Rankings 2024, the only global performance table that assesses universities against SDGs, accompanied by a live question-and-answer session for delegates.

Now in its fifth edition, the rankings use carefully calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive and balanced comparison across research, stewardship, outreach and teaching. A record 2,152 higher education institutions have submitted data to participate. Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, said: “We are seeing record levels of participation across the globe and it’s great to see so many universities stepping forward to demonstrate their commitment to delivering a more sustainable future in this visionary ranking”.

Visit the event website for more details and to book your ticket. Super-early-bird prices are available until 23 February.