Over the years, NPUST has played a pivotal role in Taiwan’s economic development at home and its technological agriculture contributions, internationally. This year (2024), in conjunction with the university’s 100th anniversary, NPUST specially arranged to host the International Conference on Sustainability together with the 2024 UNTA Annual Meeting on Nov 15 at the school’s International Conference Hall. The opening ceremony was presided over by NPUST’s President, Chin-Lung Chang, who thanked the participating scholars for coming to discuss the two themes of “Promoting Change through USR: Public Advocacy, Innovation and Welfare” and “Achieving a Sustainable Future: Innovative Application of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture”. Guests from all over the world took part in the discussions and submitted papers on their latest research results. Also, during the 2024 UNTA Annual Meeting, a memorandum of cooperation was signed to provide members with a platform for exchanging the latest developments and challenges in the field of tropical agriculture.
In his opening speech, President Chin-Lung Chang said “since its founding in 1924, NPUST has played a key role in Taiwan’s economic development and agricultural modernization process. Presently, the university has integrated the principles of sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its education, research, school governance and community services. Our school’s seven colleges place special emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching and research in order to address multi-faceted issues such as agricultural production, environmental ecology, elderly welfare and social responsibility. The school will continue to serve in the capacity of a local think tank to make substantial contributions to community revitalization.” The conference attracted many domestic and foreign heavyweight guests, including Professor Chin-Lung Chang, President of NPUST; Gene Lay, founder and CEO of BioLegend; and Professor Riri Fitri Sari, Chairman of the World GreenMetric University Rankings.
In order to help set the context, four representatives of the UNTA Alliance (UNTA), including Dr. Nguyen Thi Giang, were asked to share their views on the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development, and discuss new thought on related issues with experts and scholars from different fields. For the afternoon panel discussions, Distinguished Professor and Chief Program Director of the Ministry of Education University Social Responsibility Promotion Center, Yuhlong Oliver Su, served as the host for talks on the theme of “Promoting Change through USR: Public Advocacy, Innovation, and Welfare”. Guests included Vice President Noel Brown of the Caribbean Maritime University; Associate Professor Boontida Uapipatanakul of Rajamangala University of Technology in Thailand; Chairman Mei-ling Chen of the Taiwan Regional Revitalization Foundation; Lifetime Distinguished Professor Hsu-Yang Kung of the NPUST Center of Interdisciplinary Feature Development; and Dean Yi-Lun Tsai of the NPUST Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
In the “Achieving a Sustainable Future: Innovative Application of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture” venue, Distinguished Professor Joe-Air Jiang of the National Taiwan University Department of Biomechatronics Engineering served as the host. Guests included Professor Yusuf Hendrawan from the University of Brawijaya, Indonesia; Director Yen-Wei Chu of the NCHU Graduate Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics; Vice Dean Deng-Neng Chen of the NPUST College of Management; and Director Wen Tzong Lee of the NPUST Department of Biology. With discussions covering such diverse topics as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, climate action, biodiversity conservation, circular economies and social innovation, the conference provided a valuable platform to share related knowledge through poster and paper presentations.
The University Network for Tropical Agriculture (UNTA) was established by NPUST in 2012, and with Tarlac Agricultural University receiving approval for membership this year, the network currently includes 29 universities from 14 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. This year, 26 representatives including principals, vice principals and professors from 14 member schools in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan participated in the gathering.
