With the joint efforts of UNEP and Tongji University, the 2012 Asia-Pacific Leadership Programme on Environment for Sustainable Development with the theme of “Green Economy and Sustainable Development” starts in Tongji University on July 4th, 2012. 25 applicants from 14 countries are selected to join the one-week programme.

In the following week, senior experts and professors in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development from the Asia-Pacific Regional University Consortium(RCU), namely Tongji university, the University of New South Wales, Nanyang Technological University, Asian Institute of Technology, Yale University, etc,  will give reports related to their own research fields for the participants on topics ranging from low carbon development and urban sustainability to leadership skills and the philosophy of sustainable development with vivid and specific cases.

In the joint opening ceremony with another important international event--World Student Forum on Environment and Sustainability, Ms. Elizabeth Mrema, Deputy Director of UNEP Department of Environmental Policy Implementation,Prof. Nay Htun, Research Professor, State University of New York, University - Stony Brook, former UN Assistant Secretary General, UNDP and UNEP, Mr. Mahesh Pradhan, Chief of UNEP Environmental Education and Training Unit, and representatives of Hanns Seidel Foundation, Mr. Axel Neubert from HSF Vietnam and Ms. Nila Puspita from HSF Indonesia, as well as resource persons from RUC and Prof. WU Jiang, Dean of IESD and vice president of Tongji University delivered the speeches to the leaders from IESD, Tongji University and participants of leadership program and the Student Forum.

Supported by United Nations Environment Programme, Tongji University and other relevant departments of Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Leadership Programme has been held successfully in Tongji for eight years in which more than 200 professional talents and emerging leaders in the field gather together to share the progress in environmental and sustainable development. The Programme has been widely recognized as one of the top-scale event on sustainable development in Asia-Pacific Region.