On Wednesday 3 February 2021 from 13:00 – 16.15 pm. in the IAD meeting room on the 10th floor of the Golden Jubilee Administration and Information Center at Kasetsart University Bangkhen Campus. Kasetsart University organized KU Online Academic Forum: In Celebration of the 78th Anniversary of Kasetsart University titled “The Role of University in Addressing Critical Global Issues.”

KU Online Academic Forum begun by Assistant Professor Dr. Kampanart PENSUPAR, Vice President for International Affairs, Kasetsart University delivered his greeting to the President, Honorable speakers, distinguished guests and all the participants of this online forum. He mentioned the focal point of our discussion is the role of universities in addressing critical global issues and to concentrate on how to best align our mission and educational methods to address concerns related to our health, cyber security, and the environmental vulnerabilities around us. He expressed his gratitude to all the participants and hope to welcome everyone in-person to KU campus in the near future.

After that, Dr. Chongrak WACHRINRAT, President, Kasetsart University presided over and delivered the opening address for KU Online Academic Forum: In Celebration of the 78th Anniversary of Kasetsart University. Dr. Chongrak said that this year’s forum is more special than our former events in that it is the first time we are holding the event online due to the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year Kasetsart University is focusing on some of the most critical problems confronting people around the world, specifically issues related to health, cybercrimes and cyber security, environmental changes and ecological imbalances, and food security problems. Universities must both adapt to “new normal” lifestyles and must consider how to produce graduates who can act effectively in this new, uncertain future and the post-COVID 19 era. Our discussions focus most intensively on what we, those of us involved in higher education, can do to help the healthcare sector tackle the health problems confronting us. We know that we must increasingly depend on digital platforms and adopt to online lifestyles. During the forum, we will hear from four prominent plenary and keynote speakers, who come to us from various parts of the globe world. Dr. Chongrak delivered, by finally his thankful to the renowned speakers from Thailand, international partners, related organizations, and from the senior management team of Kasetsart University.

KU Online Academic Forum is divided into two main sessions. The first session consists of plenary and keynote speakers from four prominent plenary and keynote speakers, including:

– PLENARY SPEECH: Critical Global Challenges Facing Various Generations by Dr. Maurice CUYPERS, School of Business and Communication, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands

– KEYNOTE 1: Higher Education and Global Health Issues by Dr. Wiwat ROJANAPITHAYAKORN, Executive Director, ASEAN University Network Health Promotion Network (AUN-HPN) Mahidol University, Thailand

– KEYNOTE 2: Educating Global Citizens about Cybercrime and Cyber Security Challenges by Professor Dr. CHING Pu Chen, Chief of the Global Affairs Office, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan

– KEYNOTE 3: The Role of Universities in Tackling Environmental Changes, Ecological Imbalance, and Food Security Problems by Dr. Glenn B. GREGORIO, Director, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the Philippines

Apart from these keynotes, the second session is a learning and sharing in panel session. Professor Matthew P. DOWNS, Senior Advisor for International Relations served as honorary Chairperson. The session brought together panelists from three institutions to present their perspectives on the future of global higher education. They are:

– Professor Juan Martin MAGLIONE, Head of Artificial Intelligence at SAI, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy;

– Mr. Bo H. HOLMGREEN, Founder and Executive Director, the Scholars of Sustenance Foundation; and

– Associate Professor Dr. Ladawan PUANGCHIT, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Kasetsart University.

KU Online Academic Forum on “The Role of Universities in Addressing Critical Global Issues” was a very successful event for participants to support knowledge sharing at the higher education level which all face various and challenging problems. Whether it is managing the organization under the circumstances that consider the overall health to avoid the risk of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, where they were able to apply what they had learnt in leading the organization to participate in and contribute to society by supporting the development of research that has the potential to mitigate social and environmental problems also promoting people to realize the importance of using technology with safety.

Subsequently, it was the Forum Closing by Dr. Chongrak WACHRINRAT, President, Kasetsart University.  This year KU Online Academic Forum: In Celebration of the 78th Anniversary of Kasetsart University titled “The Role of University in Addressing Critical Global Issues,” had come to another successful end in terms of academic participation in social development both nationally and international. It is hoped that what we all learned today will help to think more clearly in dealing with this challenging Critical Global Issues.

You can access the recorded video of this seminar via this link: https://fb.watch/3rjCJ9tscD/