The Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry - International Conference on Sustainability (TUAF-ICONS 2022) was successfully held on September 3, 2022 online via Zoom and offline at the International House Library of TUAF with the theme “Creating innovative actions in the environment, agriculture, and tourism for sustainable development facing the VUCA world”.

During the opening program of the event, which was moderated by Ms. Dam Ha Luong Thanh, a DAAD-TUAF Scholar, Ms. Le Thi Thu Thao, the Overall Chairman of TUAF-ICONS 2022 and also a DAAD-TUAF Scholar, welcomed everyone to the event, especially the speakers and participants, who were students and researchers from the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Germany, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Palestine, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. The supportive and enthusiastic Ms. Ly Thi Thuy Duong, Director of the Advanced Education Program of TUAF, delivered the opening remarks. Ms. Duong expressed her gratitude to everyone who attended the event for their support and interest.

The presentation part of the event was moderated by the other two DAAD-TUAF Scholars, Ms. Khuzaimah Khoirunnisa and Ms. Thet Hnin Swe. In the morning, the first speaker from Indiana University, USA, Assistant Prof. Dr. Becky Liu Lastres, discussed an interesting concept in sustainability, especially in natural risk disaster zones, with the topic “Applying the Sustainable Livelihood Framework to Develop Post-Disaster Tourism: The Case of Aceh, Indonesia. This sparked an interesting discussion as participants raised a number of questions related to post-disaster tourism. The second speaker, Dr. Maria Victoria Espaldon, from the University of the Philippines, talked more about the technologies for a smart food production system with the topic “Climate Change and Sustainable Food Systems.” In the afternoon session, Dr. Truong Thi Tuyet from Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Vietnam, delivered a talk about the effects of climate change in the environment, particularly invasive species in Ba Be National Park with her topic: “Invasive Species in a Changing Climate”. This was followed by D. Eng. Michael Angelo Promentilla from De La Salle University of the Philippines, who discussed the importance of wastewater management with the topic “The Future of Resource-Oriented Wastewater Management and Sanitation Systems under the VUCA World”. Finally, the last speaker from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, M. Engr. Evandro Garcia presented the opportunities of cooling technologies for food security with the topic: “This is cool! Innovative cooling technologies for sustainable development”. 

The event was formally closed by Mr. Ly Tien Loi, the Vice Chairman of the TUAF-ICONS 2022 and also a DAAD-TUAF Scholar. He thanked all five speakers for their insightful and innovative topics and ideas presented during the event and the participants for their active participation. Also, Mr. Loi invited everyone and hoped to see them at the same event in 2023.

This conference was organized by the 1st DAAD-TUAF scholars of Master of Environmental Science with the hopes of enlightening young minds on current global issues and possibilities while facing uncertainties and under a changing environment.