Inaugural Ceremony of 8th UIU-ICSD 2026 held at UIU
The Inaugural Ceremony of the 8th UIU-International Conference on Sustainable Development (8th UIU-ICSD) was held on 11 April 2026 (Saturday) at UIU Campus, United City, Madani Avenue, Dhaka-1212.
The Institute of Development Studies and Sustainability (IDSS) of United International University (UIU), Bangladesh organizes this conference every year.
Ms. Neeltje Kielen, Delegated Representative Water Affairs, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh was present as the Chief Guest in the inaugural ceremony. Dr. Khairul Islam, Regional Director at WaterAid, South Asia Region and Shreya Chakraborty, Country Focal Point, International Water Management Institute, Bangladesh were present as Guests of Honor.
Prof. Dr. Mashfiqus Salehin, Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET was present as the Conference Inaugural Speaker. The Vice Chancellor of UIU Prof. Dr. Md. Abul Kashem Mia presided over the inaugural ceremony. Prof. Dr. Hamidul Huq, Director of the Institute of Development Studies and Sustainability (IDSS) and Convener of the 8th UIU-ICSD 2026, opened the inaugural session with a welcome and introductory address at the conference.
This ICSD aims to create a research-based knowledge-sharing platform to inform policy decisions and promote research activities to address the challenges of sustainable development at national, regional and international levels.
This year's conference received about 550 research papers under 08 different themes and 365 research papers were selected for presentation. The research papers were submitted from countries, including Canada, UK, Netherlands, India, Nepal, Philippines and Bangladesh etc.
The Chief Guest Ms. Neeltje Kielen said that everyone needs to work together to address global climate change and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also added that the conference will play an important role in advancing the SDGs and in strengthening regional and international relations.
Some insightful thoughts and steps for SDGs attainment came out from this session. The faculty members, officials, students, national and international sustainable development researchers, representatives from different universities and research organizations, national and international NGOs and distinguished guests were present at the conference's inaugural ceremony.
