UMS role in creating ‘green’ leaders: VC

Kota Kinabalu: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) must play a role to create leaders who have greater awareness on the need to manage the State’s natural resources sustainably.

According to the university’s Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Harun Abdullah, Sabah is rich with natural resources and is also one of the places on earth that is high in biodiversity.

He explained that most industries, agriculture and tourism are very much dependent on the natural resources.

Harun said this in his speech delivered by Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy Dean Associate Professor Dr Rashid Mail when launching the Sustainability Leadership Course at the university’s Chancellery Building, here.

He said the university has been conducting various sustainability programmes since its establishment 20 years ago and in 2013, they have transformed into a sustainable university with EcoCampus as their branding.

“We are the first Malaysian university that implemented a campus wide strategic plan for sustainability…and the first Malaysian university to be accepted as a member of the largest Sustainable University Global Think Tank, the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN).

“We became a member last year in 2013 and were formally welcomed at Harvard University in June 2014.

“We are also the first university to be a member of Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) in 2014,” he said, adding that the university was also ranked 244th in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, which is a ranking system for sustainable university.

Speaking of the programme, sustainability leadership, he explained it is not just about being the industry leader in sustainability efforts but is about leading in a sustainable way.

“Hopefully, the course can create more leadership traits that can transform the ideas of sustainability into reality,” he said.

The course, which was organised by the university’s EcoCampus Management Centre, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation together with JICA-SDBEC (Japan International Co-operation Agency-Sustainable Development for Biodiversity and Ecosystem) Sabah, was attended by more than 80 university staff.

Source: Daily Express