Westminster students took part in a two-day online sustainable business challenge with two of the University’s longstanding partners, the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT), Colombo, and Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT) on 10 and 11 May 2022.
Dr Sumita Ketkar and Dr Gustavo Espinoza Ramos from Westminster Business School (WBS) together with Dr Waqas Ahmed from WIUT, Shonali Aponso from IIT and Vicky Valenti, a Level 5 student, facilitated the workshop which saw undergraduate students from IIT and WIUT work alongside undergraduate students from WBS throughout the two days.
The aim of the initiative was to support sustainable thinking and practice for students, and it falls in line with Westminster’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG17 which is to ‘strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development’.
The workshop was well received as reflected in student feedback which included statements such as ‘collaborating with international students helped me hone my teamwork’, and ‘I gained experience in online collaboration and my team-working skill improved significantly’.
Dr Sumita Ketkar said after the workshop: “The participating students are true ambassadors of sustainability, entrepreneurial thinking and a reflection of creativity of multicultural teams.”
Dr Waqas Ahmed, Senior Lecturer at WIUT, echoed these comments: “The sustainability workshop was a wonderful experience for me, albeit challenging given the extent of diversity, the online nature and different time zones. The students found it very useful and suggested many innovative solutions based on their selected ideas.”
Bernesh Arulando, a student at the Informatics Institute of Technology, Colombo said: “The University of Westminster's cross-institutional sustainability challenge was a truly rewarding and impactful experience. The event taught me - and I'm sure that the other students would agree - about the importance of sustainability and how it relates to business.
“Meeting international students and collaborating with individuals from various cultures and backgrounds was a highlight of my time. Apart from the importance of sustainability, the important takeaways from this event were teamwork and communication. I've developed confidence in working with people from various backgrounds, and I'm confident that this ability will open many doors for me. In terms of the event itself, the kind and incredibly helpful lecturers worked extremely hard to ensure that we were comfortable at all times while providing us with crucial lessons that will be extremely beneficial in the future. I extend my gratitude to Dr Sumita Ketkar, Dr Gustavo Ramos, Dr Waqas Ahmed, Ms Shonali Aponso and everyone else who provided this wonderful opportunity to us.”
Find out more about Westminster’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.
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