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Education for Sustainable Development: The STEM Approach in Universiti Sains Malaysia

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Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development

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Abstract

The appointment of Universiti Sains Malaysia as a Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development by UNESCO in 2005 provided the incentives to spearhead several in-campus Education for Sustainable Development programs. The School of Mathematical Sciences, which has been actively pursuing education and research towards sustainable development goals since 1990s, has developed outreach, academic and research programs to promote Sustainable Development Goals, at local and global levels. This paper summarizes such research programs that develop relevant skills and competences in quantitative methodology for enhancing sustainable management of storm water, air quality and water quality in campus and beyond. Also presented is a recent initiative in unifying science, technology, engineering and mathematics for analysing the adverse impact of climate change on coastal groundwater and vegetation. This paper serves as a demonstration of how quantitative methodology can address local and global environmental issues and support implementation of SDGs in universities and beyond.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support provided by Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) FRGS grant FRGS/1/2016/STG06/USM/02/1 (203/PMATHS/6711569) and the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship 2017 is gratefully acknowledged. TSY acknowledges the support provided by USM’s School of Mathematical Sciences to present this paper at WSSD-U-2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

    Su Yean Teh

  2. Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, Sunway University, 47500, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia

    Hock Lye Koh

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  1. Su Yean Teh
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Correspondence to Su Yean Teh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability Science and Research, HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. European School of Sustainability Science and Research, HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Amanda Lange Salvia

  3. Department of Geography, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Rudi W. Pretorius

  4. University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Londero Brandli

  5. Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece

    Evangelos Manolas

  6. Department of Social Sciences and Management, Universidade Aberta, Porto, Portugal

    Fatima Alves

  7. Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Ulisses Azeiteiro

  8. School of Architecture and Design, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Judy Rogers

  9. Department of Life and Environmental Science, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK

    Chris Shiel

  10. Department of Business and Economics, Research Unit NECE, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilha, Portugal

    Arminda Do Paco

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Teh, S.Y., Koh, H.L. (2020). Education for Sustainable Development: The STEM Approach in Universiti Sains Malaysia. In: Leal Filho, W., et al. Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_35

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