Sri Lanka Students’ Association in Japan Annual Research Conference 2024 (SLSAJARC 2024)

Sri Lanka Students’ Association in Japan Annual Research Conference 2024 (SLSAJARC 2024) was successfully held on the 15th of December 2024 as a virtual event. The conference theme this year was “Accelerating Sustainable Development in a Volatile Global Landscape“. SLSAJ has collaborated with the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) in making this event a success.

The conference was aligned in five themes as follows.

1. Equity and Well-being: Addressing Poverty, Hunger, and Inequality
2. Empowering Communities through Health, Education, and Gender Equality
3. Inclusive Growth, Innovation, and Strong Institutions
4. Sustainable Cities and Responsible Consumption
5. Protecting the Planet: Climate Action, Water, and Biodiversity

The keynote speaker of the conference was Prof. Mohan Munasinghe. Prof. Munasinghe is the founder and chairman of Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND) and the MIND group. In addition, he was the Vice-chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, and the Blue Planet Prize winner in 2021.

In addition, the conference consisted of a sustainability forum which opened up different perspectives regarding current status of sustainable development in Sri Lanka and world. The distinguished sustainability forum members were:

• Prof. N. S. Cooray – International University of Japan (Conference Chair and Forum Moderator)
• Senior Prof. Buddhi Marambe – University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
• Eng. (Dr.) Sanath Panawennage – Former Director General and CEO of the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, Sri Lanka
• Prof. Rangika Halwatura – University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
• Dr. George I. H. Cooke – Executive Director, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS)
• Ms. Chamindry Saparamadu – Directr General of Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka
• Mr. Waruna Sri Dhanapala – Acting Secretary, Ministry of Digital Economy, Sri Lanka