Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Wira Mohd Shafiei

It is now clear that the development models of the past have so stretched the tolerance margins of nature that they are seen to be depleting scarce resources and degrading the global environment. With the full realization that environmental problems are closely linked to economic and socio-cultural problems, a profound change is necessary in the stewardship of the earth and life on it, moving away from paradigms that exclusively rely on concepts of continuous economic growth, corporate profit, and consumer avarice. We have to redirect our intellectual enterprise to develop the capacity to understand, anticipate, and act based on global challenges. 

Recognizing that developing the capacity to make decisions considering the long-term future of the economy, ecology, and equity is a crucial educational task, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has embraced the vision of becoming a sustainability-led university of world-class standing as part of its APEX initiative. While the APEX award is a fitting recognition of the university’s wide-ranging and remarkable accomplishments of the past, it is also a call to excel in addressing the sustainability challenges of the future.

In order to achieve the broad APEX vision, USM has embarked on a range of missions, which, by pursuing specific objectives and activities, are expected to contribute to the achievement of the overall sustainability vision. One particularly significant mission is the establishment of the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (the Centre, CGSS) to mainstream sustainability into the entire fabric and rubric of the university. This Centre is designed to work with all other relevant sections of the University, regional and international sustainability organizations, national and regional governments, the private sector, civil society groups, and NGOs to promote sustainable development, with a specific focus on empowering the disadvantaged bottom billions populations.