Six universities and higher education organizations including Georgia Tech participated in the University Global Compact’s (UGC) inaugural “17-Rooms-U” on Monday, September 23 at Rutgers University. Attendees included Georgie Tech’s President Dr. Ángel Cabrera and Scheller College of Business professor, Dr. Beril Toktay along with eight other Georgia Tech faculty and research partners. Dr. Cabrera is one of the founders of the UGC which seeks to address 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. The “17-Rooms U” is an exercise that brings 170 faculty, staff, students and community leaders into ten rooms of 17 people to discuss ways of achieving the goals.
The deadline set for reaching these goals is 2030 and the participants’ goals are to engage in dialogues and solutions for reaching SDC goals before the 2030 deadline.
Additional Georgia Tech participants included:
- Shatakshee Dhongde, associate professor, School of Economics
- Lizanne DeStefano, professor of psychology and executive director, CEISMC
- Mary Frank Fox, ADVANCE Professor, School of Public Policy
- Mark Hay, Regents Professor
and Harry and Linda Teasley Chair, School of Biological Sciences - John Koon, professor of the practice, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Debra Lam, managing director, Smart Cities
and Inclusive Innovation, Institute for People and Technology - Tim Lieuwen, Regents Professor and David S. Lewis Jr. Chair, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering; executive director, Strategic Energy Institute
- Laura Taylor, professor and chair, School of Economics