Yesterday, Tuesday, 18/4/1443 A.H., the University, represented by the Center for Sustainable Development, held a workshop entitled "The First Coordination Meeting for Sustainable Local Development Partners in Qassim Region" at the training hall of the College of Arabic Language and Social Studies at the main headquarters of the University City, in the presence of His Excellency the University Vice President for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Prof. Ahmed Al-Turki, and a number of representatives of government and private entities in Qassim. 

This initiative comes as part of the Center's efforts to cooperate with all stakeholders in Qassim region in everything that would contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals in the Kingdom, and to crystallize the idea of establishing a coordinating entity at the level of the region on these goals to enable all partners to contribute effectively in this field. The coordinating entity is responsible for effectively contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, including promoting the concept of shared prosperity and inclusiveness in light of the national sustainability standards and the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

It also achieves a number of sub-objectives, including: Developing the institutional performance of the Qassim region in the areas of sustainable development by proposing policies, plans and programs; developing institutional performance by providing technical advice to the Qassim Region Council in support of sustainable local development in the region; improving the integration of partners in the region and ensuring the effectiveness of their participation in sustainable development projects; enhancing the role of Saudi women and increasing their contributions to local community development; and developing mechanisms for follow-up, evaluation and documentation of the efforts and evidence made by partners in achieving sustainable development. 

For his part, His Excellency the UQU Vice President for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Prof. Ahmed Al-Turki, in his speech during the opening of the workshop, stressed that today's meeting aims to establish a coordinating entity concerned with a topic of great importance that society needs in all its parts, entities and details, namely sustainable development, indicating that we urgently need to spread this concept and cultivate it in the members of society, its institutions and entities, as it is one of the important parts of the life we live, and from this perspective, sustainable development was one of the pillars targeted by Vision 2030 to form a vital, prosperous and continuous society in investing its potentials and energies.

Al-Turki added that we hear the term development a lot, but its realization on the ground has been largely absent in some parts of our lives, pointing out that he met this day with different departments to integrate with the university in establishing this entity, expressing his great hope that it will conclude into a cohesive team with a strong argument and strength, entering the community to launch the concept of sustainable development and its actual applications in the community.

The workshop addressed a number of topics, including introducing the Center for Sustainable Development and its vision on local development, as well as reviewing the idea of establishing a coordinating entity for local development partners, in addition to the vision of the Investment Development Committee in the region on enhancing work with local development partners, as well as opening the field for discussion and open deliberation of the topics related to the theme of the workshop.