KAUST Launches 1st Initiative to Enhance Scientific, Sustainability Literacy for Children

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) launched its first educational initiative designed to enhance scientific and sustainability literacy for children. SPA
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) launched its first educational initiative designed to enhance scientific and sustainability literacy for children. SPA
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KAUST Launches 1st Initiative to Enhance Scientific, Sustainability Literacy for Children

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) launched its first educational initiative designed to enhance scientific and sustainability literacy for children. SPA
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) launched its first educational initiative designed to enhance scientific and sustainability literacy for children. SPA

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) launched its first educational initiative designed to enhance scientific and sustainability literacy for children, underscoring the critical role of science in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The initiative was launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in the Kingdom and "Frontiers for Young Minds," an open-access scientific journal dedicated to children.

The initiative, titled "The SDG Collection: How Science Can Help Us to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," includes a series of articles on each of the 17 SDGs and will be published in Frontiers for Young Minds.

The initiative builds upon previous partnership efforts between KAUST and the journal, which included a collection of scientific articles tailored for children and translated into Arabic. It made complex scientific concepts easily accessible and appealing to Arabic-speaking children worldwide.

The project aligns with Saudi Vision 2030, which emphasizes the role of sustainable research in stimulating social and economic development, and inspiring future generations to achieve sustainable development.

KAUST Professor of Practice of Sustainability and Head of Sustainability Ana Margarida Costa indicated that the initiative reflects the university's utilization of science and educational programs to address global challenges.

Through these scientific articles about SDGs collection, the aim is not only to educate young minds but also to inspire them to take concrete actions for a sustainable world, said Costa.

“The collection, edited by KAUST experts, will feature contributions from KAUST's diverse pool of researchers and will leverage an in-person, interactive, peer-review process involving students from local schools, including the KAUST School (TKS),” Costa added.

KAUST Enrichment for Youth Director Nicki Talbot, currently leading the engagement with TKS, emphasized that the initiative allows children to participate in reviewing research papers authored by KAUST researchers, which is a wonderful example of the university's commitment to empowering and educating youth.

Talbot also pointed out that it would involve the inclusion of new audiovisual materials, such as talk shows and interviews with authors led by students, to bridge the gap between researchers and children.

Talbot noted that the initiative’s translation into Arabic would improve its accessibility, ensuring that children throughout the Kingdom and the Arab region can fully benefit from this educational resource aimed at raising awareness about the global sustainable development agenda.



Japan’s Sado Mines Added to World Heritage List

This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
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Japan’s Sado Mines Added to World Heritage List

This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)

A network of mines on a Japanese island infamous for using conscripted wartime labor was added to UNESCO's World Heritage register Saturday after South Korea dropped earlier objections to its listing.

The Sado gold and silver mines, now a popular tourist attraction, are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II.

Japan had put a case for World Heritage listing because of their lengthy history and the artisanal mining techniques used there at a time when European mines had turned to mechanization.

The proposal was opposed by Seoul when it was first put because of the use of involuntary Korean labor during World War II, when Japan occupied the Korean peninsula.

UNESCO confirmed the listing of the mines at its ongoing committee meeting in New Delhi on Saturday after a bid highlighting its archaeological preservation of "mining activities and social and labor organization".

"I would like to wholeheartedly welcome the inscription... and pay sincere tribute to the long-standing efforts of the local people which made this possible," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a statement.

The World Heritage effort was years in the making, inspired in part by the successful recognition of a silver mine in western Japan's Shimane region.

South Korea's foreign ministry said it had agreed to the listing "on the condition that Japan faithfully implements the recommendation... to reflect the 'full history' at the Sado Gold Mine site and takes proactive measures to that end."

Historians have argued that recruitment conditions at the mine effectively amounted to forced labor, and that Korean workers faced significantly harsher conditions than their Japanese counterparts.

"Discrimination did exist," Toyomi Asano, a professor of history of Japanese politics at Tokyo's Waseda University, told AFP in 2022.

"Their working conditions were very bad and dangerous. The most dangerous jobs were allocated to them."

Also added to the list on Saturday was the Beijing Central Axis, a collection of former imperial palaces and gardens in the Chinese capital.

The UNESCO committee meeting runs until Wednesday.