The 15th University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability press conference held today featured conference co-chairs and featured speakers with a full preview of the week’s activities. L-R: Lt. Governor Joshua Tenorio, Island Sustainability Community Advisory Board Chairwoman Maria Leon Guerrero, UOG President Anita Borja Enriquez, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant Director Austin Shelton and Executive Director of the Global Islands Partnership Kate Brown. (Photo courtesy of University of Guam)
As the University of Guam convenes this week for its 15th Conference on Island Sustainability, community leaders reflect on its theme, “Sustainability Endures,” and its history of bridging partnerships for crucial local and regional initiatives.
At the press conference on Tuesday, April 9, leaders from government, business, and the academe also acknowledged the UOG Center for Island Sustainability for starting conversations on sustainability at the community level through the annual event.
UOG President Anita Borja Enriquez, DBA, said that as island communities confront existential threats brought by climate change and environmental and resource challenges, there are also opportunities for finding solutions through collaborative programs such as the Green Growth Initiative.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who co-chairs the conference with Borja Enriquez, also acknowledged these partnerships, “It is very crucial that we all come together as we have in the last 15 years to really work at how to protect our environment, how do we address the challenge of climate change through this kind of networking, through this kind of collaborative effort.”
“This momentum that we have been building together with our partners is really taking off, and it is not just staying here on Guam, we now have partners following this model, and we are working together to spread the Green Growth initiative across the Pacific,” said UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant Director Austin Shelton, PhD.
From April 8 to 13, the conference will feature presentations and sessions focusing on the theme, “Sustainability Endures.” Key topics at the conference include climate change adaptation, renewable energy solutions, waste management strategies, and community resilience.
The official start to the 15th University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability happens with Community Night on Wednesday, April 10 at 6pm at the Hyatt and is open to the public. Community Night will feature live music from Malak Mo’na, food, student research poster presentations and a chance to win a brand new electric scooter.
