Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, 24 January 2022 – Malaysian conglomerate Sunway Group and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Malaysia, in partnership with the All-Party Parliamentary Group of Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG), will be hosting the National Solutions Forum 2022 (NSF) in April to showcase the most impactful solutions to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-related challenges in Malaysia.
Sunway will fund shortlisted solutions with RM10,000 each to scale its impact. The best solution initiative will be awarded a further RM10,000.
Engendering the theme of Wellbeing, the inaugural NSF is calling for changemakers, innovators and interested individuals seeking to deliver innovative solutions to advance the wellbeing of the planet and its people.
All submitted solution initiatives will be reviewed by a shortlisting committee assembled by the SDSN Malaysia Secretariat, after which, nine solution initiatives will be shortlisted to be presented at the NSF, a hybrid event with virtual attendees and a limited number of in-person attendees.
The National Solutions Forum is modelled after SDSN’s Global Solutions Forum inaugurated in September 2019 in New York City, in conjunction with the International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD). Similar to the Global Solutions Forum, the NSF will be an action-oriented event where government, businesses, civil society and academia come together to promote sustainable development solutions.
Vice President for Asia & Head of SDSN’s Kuala Lumpur Office, Professor Woo Wing Thye, said, “SDSN encourages its members and network to develop innovative and sustainable real-world solutions to address local, national, regional, or global challenges related to sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, the National Solutions Forum seeks to identify and implement progressive solutions that can advance the sustainable development agenda in the areas of wellbeing, that includes both people and planet.”
He added that the current global pandemic and natural disasters demonstrates the increased urgency to address sustainable development issues.
Proposal submissions are open until 11 February 2022. To register or for more information, visit sdsn.org.my/nsf2022.
As part of Sunway’s commitment to nation-building and advancing the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, US$20 million was committed to the United Nations through the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation. This partnership funded the establishment of the Jeffrey Sachs Center for Sustainable Development at Sunway University as well as the Asia headquarters of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN) at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur. The UN-SDSN at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur is one of three such global centres, alongside New York City and Paris, co-ordinating continent-wide sustainability initiatives.
