UBD mulls grants for 'green' courses

UNIVERSITI Brunei Darussalam (UBD) is considering offering grants for courses on the environment, UBD Vice Chancellor Dr Hj Zulkarnain Hj Hanafi announced last night.

During his speech at the closing dinner for the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) Workshop, Dr Hj Zulkarnain also said UBD will be increasing its efforts in promoting environmental education and research.

The 10-day workshop on environmental issues was attended by students from throughout Asia and Europe, and included a visit to the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre (KBFSC) in Temburong.

Dr Hj Zulkarnain said that the UBD foresaw a more prominent role for the KBFSC. "We are interested in establishing collaborative projects on climate change, sustainable development and tropical biodiversity under our Belalong initiative," he said.

He invited participants to apply and compete for grants for master's degree and PhD-level research in these topics, stating that the UBD would be "delighted" to offer competitive grants to those who wanted to conduct research on these topics.

The Vice Chancellor also said that UBD would be working with various ministries, agencies and the private sector to gain their support and to have a greater engagement with the community in its efforts to promote environmental education and research.

Dr Hj Zulkarnin said that the topics covered in workshop, such as the impacts of climate change and the monitoring of ecosystem responses to climate change, could easily be a workshop or conference of its own.

"This reflects the huge task facing every community in addressing global climate change," he said.

He went on to thank the organising committee including student volunteers for their hard work.

He also thanked Asem and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for their support and guidance. The Brunei Times