Alliance Between UWI and SUNY Enhances Leadership Qualifications for UN Sustainable Development Goals
May 30, 2024
The University of the West Indies (UWI) and SUNY deepen alliance with new agreement for a graduate degree programme in Leadership for Sustainable Development, focusing on the UN's SDGs.
The University of the West Indies (UWI) and State University of New York System of Public Colleges and Universities (SUNY) have deepened their alliance with a new agreement aimed at providing qualifications for leadership related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SUNY’s University of Buffalo (UB), the two universities are set to introduce a new graduate degree programme in Leadership for Sustainable Development.
The programme, to be offered through UWI’s soon-to-be-launched International School for Development Justice (ISDJ) and the Centre for Leadership and Sustainable Development (CLSD), aims to shape the future of sustainable development leadership. The new master’s programme, emerging from the MOU, is among The UWI ISDJ’s initial offerings for its upcoming September 2024 launch.
“Our two universities are strategically repositioning to advance further mobilisation around the SDGs,” Vice-Chancellor of The UWI Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said of the new phase of partnership.
“By harnessing the collective expertise and resources of both institutions, this partnership aims to serve as a catalyst that will drive progress towards a more sustainable and resilient future for all.”
The collaboration follows a strategic decision by the current Chancellor of SUNY, John B. King, Jr., to domesticate the CLSD within the UB and to appoint its resident Distinguished Professor Gene D. Morse as the new executive director.
Established in 2016, the CLSD already has a successful UWI-SUNY joint Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership for Sustainable Development. It will now offer another option for leadership in the SDGs through The UWI’s new ISDJ.
The ISDJ’s global agenda seeks to offer comprehensive education and training exclusively supporting the SDGs, specifically empowering future leaders to drive social justice, gender equality, and economic development in the Caribbean and worldwide.
Sir Hilary noted: “The UWI International School for Development Justice is continuing to work toward the 2030 goals, buoyed by joint offerings like the graduate programme in sustainable development by the UWI-UB CLSD.”
(PR/BT)
