The 2019 GEEF was held between 14–15 February at Yonsei University. With the main theme of ‘A Call to Action Empower People, Share Prosperity’, the 2019 GEEF served as an influential platform for sharing and extending ideas to champion sustainable development and social equity. The Forum included four plenary sessions on subjects such as health, women empowerment, inter-Korean economic cooperation and future cities and managed 12 parallel sessions on various topics. A wide cross-section of stakeholders, including government agencies, international organisations, academia, businesses, civil societies and students engaged in this second annual event. In attendance were 107 esteemed speakers from 27 different nations and over 1,300 participants from more than 78 countries.

Universities have a unique societal position through being powerful influencers of our next generation and cultivators of talent.  Universities also possess significant cultural and financial assets that can serve as the foundation of strong communities. The SDGs provide the higher education sector with an unrivaled platform to converge with governments, business, and the wider community to raise awareness of the grand challenges to accelerate action on the 17 SDG goals.   

Special thanks to Dr Alison Lloyd, Co-Chair of USRN, and the panelists Prof. Wei Li (Beijing Normal University), Dr Grace Ngai (the Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Dr Fernando Palacio (Kyoto University), for sharing their insights on “University Social Responsibility and SDGs” and discussing examples of how universities are embedding or aligning SDGs with their core activities in teaching and also research.