THE University Impact Forum organized by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was held on 11-12 September 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan under the title of SDG 13 Climate Action. The forum was organized in cooperation with Sumgayit University, the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan and the Science and Higher Education Institution, hosted by the Azerbaijan Petroleum and Industry University.
Azerbaijan will host the 29th Paris Conference (COP29) on 11-22 November 2024, with over 1,500 world leaders expected to participate. The fact that the forum deals with the issue of climate action increases the significance of the event.
The opening panel was held in the Main Hall of the Azerbaijan Petroleum and Industrial University. These names participated in the event: Minister of Science and Education E. Amrullayev, Vice Rector V. Asgarov, Rector of Sumgayit University R. Azizov and Phil Baty, CEO of THE Global Relations.
Various panels were held and 38 speakers took part in the forum. During the two-day forum, topics such as the fact that SDG 13 climate action is fundamental for other SDG objectives, achievements and opportunities for climate action in oil-dependent countries, methods of publishing effective articles under the SDG, planning of current studies and the supporting role of the higher education system were discussed. Moreover, as of 2018, THE rankings of universities were evaluated with 17 SDGs within the scope of THE Impact Ranking 2024. A masterclass was carried out on the status of Azerbaijani universities in the rankings. In the closing session, suggestions supporting all SDG studies were presented.
In addition, two important reports were introduced, “Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action” by the World Bank and “Transnational Education (TNE3.0)” by the THE.
Prof. Arda Öztürkcan, after the forum, stated, “We participated in the event organized by THE in 2023 on behalf of our university. We took part in the forum with a total of 4 universities and a private organization, 1 state and 3 foundation universities from Türkiye. In THE Impact ranking, we ranked first in the SDG 7 Accessible and Clean Energy category this year. We aim to take part in the COP29 event to be held in Azerbaijan and to contribute globally. Furthermore, we are know that THE Sustainable Development Goals Congress (SDGC) to be organized by the Higher Education Institution (YÖK) will be held in Istanbul for the first time in 2025. We pursue our work in this direction.