Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Midst of Food and Energy Crisis

The unstable global environment in 2021 due to the Covid-19 Delta variant spread created an atmosphere of uncertainty among people across the globe. However, the year 2021 was a pivotal moment for the national economy, as it showed positive growth amid the recovery phase of the pandemic. The pandemic has led to radical shifts in the educational sector, particularly at the national level. In 2021, the implementation of Distance Learning (PJJ) was extended to replace conventional face- to-face classes. It referred to the government’s

regulations regarding the Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM) in all regions. Universitas Indonesia (UI) always takes an active role in breaking the chain of Covid-19 transmission. Throughout 2021, UI continued to implement distance learning to mitigate risks during the pandemic. A similar approach was also applied to all staff and lecturers of UI. They were required to work and manage their tasks from home. UI shows its commitment and best efforts to handle the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia by mustering its resources to collaborate with the government in various areas of expertise, such as public health, epidemiology, medical treatment, technology, medical devices, economics, law, social, culture, and others. Joint efforts have been established with a focus on improving preventive and promotive healthcare and promoting community-based collaborations using the penta-helix approach.

UI has set up some vaccination centers on campus to support the government in tackling the Covid-19 spread. In other words, UI participates in accelerating the vaccination rollout for the public to reach herd immunity, particularly across the Jabodetabek area. UI continues its contribution to support the national public health system, along with making the sustainable development goals (SDGs) a reality. This commitment is appreciated by Times Higher Education (THE), a reputable international higher education ranking agency. In the THE Impact Rankings 2021, UI was ranked 4th out of 18 universities in Indonesia, ranked 7th in Southeast Asia, and ranked 85th worldwide with an overall score of 87.0.

The best score UI received was in the SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals with four assessment indicators as follows: Research on SDG 17, Relationships to support the goals, Publication of SDG reports, and Education for the SDGs. For this particular aspect, UI was ranked 22nd out of 1,154 universities from 94 countries worldwide. UI was considered capable of providing a broad impact on the nation’s social and economic aligned with the SDGs through its research, teaching, and community-service initiatives.

What UI has achieved throughout 2021 certainly will remain as its commitment to continuously support the government in achieving the SDGs, and encourage its academic community members to innovate and work hard for the country. We appreciate all parties who have expressed their interest in participating and collaborating with UI.