KU becomes the first university in Korea to host the Nature Conference

UN SDGs Implementation plans will be discussed, as well as policies and future tasks on waste management and high value-added services

Korea University has succeeded in attracting the Nature Conference to Korea together with Nature, a world-renowned scientific journal. It is especially meaningful in that KU is the only university in Korea to host the Conference hand-in-hand with Nature Headquarters.

Director Yong Sik Ok of KU’s Korea Biochar Research Center announced that the Conference will be co-hosted with the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) to discuss the policies and future tasks on waste management and high value-added services for a sustainable future.

The Conference will be held in Seoul for three days from October 26th to 28th, 2021, under the theme “Waste Management and Valorization for a Sustainable Future”. More than 500 people from 30 countries will gather from different sectors of business, government and academia, to discuss the implementation plans for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Conference will be led by: ▲ Yong Sik Ok (Professor at Korea University, Research Director of KU Research Planning Committee and Director of Korea Biochar Research Center); ▲ William Mitch (Professor at Stanford University and Director of Sustainable Waste Management Program at APRU, in cooperation with Prof. Yong Sik Ok); ▲ Monica Contestabile (Chief Editor of Nature Sustainability); and ▲ Renowned scholars and chief editors of journals related to Nature. This event is being sponsored by Seoul Tourism Organization and Korea Tourism Organization along with several other government agencies, government-funded research institutes, and corporations in Korea and abroad.

In addition to the discussion on sustainable waste management, the Conference will also discuss ways to implement the SDGs of the UN. It is expected that this Nature Conference on sustainable waste management and climate change will especially attract public attention in a situation when Korea is hosting another important event, Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Seoul Summit in 2020.

▲ Yong Sik Ok, Research Director (Global) for KU Research Planning Committee and Director of Korea Biochar Research Center

“Starting with the UN SDGs and P4G, continuous efforts are being made worldwide to tackle the climate change issue. Sustainable growth is not only emphasized at education or research sites of world-class universities, but also applied to systematic changes in business environments. It is significant that Korea and Korea University are selected as arenas for the national-level discussion of such an important issue,” said Director Ok. He added, “This Conference will serve as an opportunity for knowledge exchange between experts from around the world. There will be discussions on limits that we currently face on waste management policies, such as soil and groundwater pollution, fine dust and plastics, while reviewing the existing international policies and frameworks.”

In accordance to the vision of the Conference, the issue of sustainability will be taken into consideration from the planning stage. E-posters will replace the former paper posters for the poster sessions, and efforts will be made to dramatically reduce the plastic and food waste that are usually discharged in large amounts after various events. The details of the Conference are posted on the main page of the Nature website.