Green University Conference Comes to an End by Reading the Final Statement ( Archive )







The closing ceremony of the International Green University Conference was held on 7 February 2018, at the gathering hall of the Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.


As reported by the Public Relations Office at FUM, Dr. Babakhani, the Deputy of Financial Affairs at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad represented the board of directors and thanked the guests for their valuable contributions to this international conference. Also, Dr. Talebi, the President of the University of Isfahan, pointed to the special importance of green management at this university due to its 70-year history, vast area and large number of buildings which are under construction. Dr. Talebi also outlined the measures taken by the University of Isfahan for reducing energy consumption, such as installing water, electricity and gas meters inside the buildings, replacing incandescent lamps by low-energy lamps, saving cooling, refining the grey wastewater of student dormitories, waste sorting, drip irrigation, cultivating the species tolerant against pests, and installing solar panels. At the end of his talk, Dr. Talebi officially announced that next year’s green university conference would be held at the University of Isfahan.


Dr. Askarian, the Administrative & Financial Vice-President of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) was the next lecturer at the closing ceremony. Dr. Askarian reiterated, “This conference was supposed to be held every two years, but it was finally decided for it to be held annually”. He added, “Our Pakistani friends and guests suggested holding next year’s conference in Pakistan, but this transfer would not take place for now”. The Administrative & Financial Vice-President of MSRT said: “A memorandum of understanding will be signed between Iran and the member countries of ECO foundation in order to promote green policies.


Speaking about the merging of GreenMetric and Green University international conferences in 2021, Dr. Askarian said: the University of Isfahan will host next year’s Green University conference and the following year’s conference would be held at Zanjan University. Since GreenMetric international conference was also supposed to be held on that year, the two conferences would be merged. As his final remarks, Dr. Askarian Abianeh mentioned the satisfaction of officials and international guests with the activities of Iran and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad towards greener universities.


In the next lecture given by Dr. Shams, an advisor to the Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology, he cherished the anniversary of the Islamic revolution of Iran in 1979 and thanked the authorities who worked tirelessly for organizing this international conference. Specifically, Dr. Shams expressed his notes of gratitude to Dr. Askarian, Dr. Kafi, Dr. Babakhani and the secretariat of the conference. Dr. Shams added that protecting the environment and saving energy for future generations is a definite fact and the academia have to be pioneers in reaching sustainable development and protecting the environment. The advisor to the Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology finished his talk by outlining the challenges resulting from insufficient attention to the environment.


Ultimately, the final statement of the 1st international green university conference was read by Dr. Monfared, the secretary of the energy management workgroup at the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.


The final statement of the International Green University Conference


The participants at the 1st International Green University Conference held by the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) of Iran and hosted by Ferdowsi University of Mashhad on 6 and 7 February 2018 emphasize the importance of holding international conferences attended by national and international universities and scholars in order to reach sustainability at the university level. The participants also unanimously agreed on the following points:


1. Green universities in Iran have to be evaluated based on the combined-comparative alignment model prepared by Shiraz University and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.


2. An information bank of notable scholars and experts on green management and issues related to green university have to be created in order to strengthen the ties among these groups.


3. The Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) of Iran have to support active green universities in order to expand green management projects.


4. The sustainability conditions of universities are annually evaluated using the national model and the results are announced to the universities.


5. Supporting clean transportation by designing environment-friendly systems in universities in order to reduce the usage of fossil fuels


6. Cooperation with the green management workgroup of the MSRT for policy-making, planning and supporting green management projects, holding periodical meetings with experts and scholars from all over Iran and creating think tanks in order to sooner achieve the specified objectives.


7. Preparing a template for implementing sustainable university by the green management workgroup of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in cooperation with national universities.


8. Preparing a draft of the memorandum of understanding between ECO Foundation and the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in order to transfer the experiences of green Iranian universities to the country members of ECO.


The participants at this conference express their appreciation for the presence of the Iranian Minister of Science, Research, and Technology, Deputy of the academic, cultural and social development section at the Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) of Iran and the experts of this organization at the 1st international green university conference. We would also like to thank all the officials and experts at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad for their generous hospitality. Our thanks also go to Dr. Mohammad Kafi, the President of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and the head of the conference, as well as all the administrative and academic experts who contributed to the better organization of this two-day conference.


The participants would also like to thank all the officials at the University of Isfahan for accepting to host the 2nd international Green University Conference.





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