Prof. Dimitris Drikakis
My name is Dimitris Drikakis, Professor of the University of Nicosia and Vice President for Global Partnerships. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to give this interview!
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SDGs and sustainability in general are very close to my heart and I´m keen on all aspects of them. Not only in my capacity as a Global Partnerships Vice President of the University but also in the past years when I have been working on SDGs to help the University improve its overall profile. As an engineer I have been working on aspects of SDGs throughout my whole career including, of course, technology and emerging technologies that can help improve the social living and the ability of citizens to actually access more resources without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
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First of all, SDGs are a very broad portfolio. I think we have to take into account that SDGs relate for example to poverty, to zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, affordable and clean energy, peace and justice amongst many others so there isn't only one simple way to draw people's attention. There are aspects of SDGs that can touch different people, either directly because of the situation they´re living in or because they actually have a commitment to improve their environment in order to create better and more sustainable conditions for future generations. It's a very broad topic that has to do with aspects ranging from technology to social justice and all of us should be committed to contribute in some way to the SDGs.
I have been involved in numerous SDGs because of the University´s relation to them. Especially due to the ranking that the University of Nicosia applies for, the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. Nonetheless, my University has an actual commitment to contribute to SDGs across the globe. Personally, as an engineer and a scientist I'm involved in aspects of energy, emerging technology but also health and wellbeing since I´m also involved in biomedical applications.
I have a strong interest in technology and its use, but also in a physics-driven understanding of the world to improve the conditions we live in. This includes more affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, more responsible consumption and production and of course also industry, innovation and infrastructure. All of these are areas that my field of research and technical knowledge contributes to.
I think the question of how I would tackle SDGs relates to each specific one so I would try to isolate a couple of them and look at them individually. In terms of providing better technologies and more innovation the most important thing is to establish infrastructure for producing innovation. In my case, I'm working on a number of topics: technologies, fluid dynamics, models and simulations that are related to clean energy, clean water, affordable energy, smart cities and communities in general, that improve the health and wellbeing and the way people live there in the future. So, in a nutshell I would say that I'm involved in and contribute to SDGs through technology. But of course, I´m an educator as well, and in my capacity as a teacher I can very well contribute to improving access to education, e.g. through distance learning, through seminars, by providing important information and education to my students in order to make them feel more committed to the Sustainable Development Goals.
I believe that SDGS are increasingly achievable. Especially the fact, that communities, authorities and governments talk about sustainability, SDGs and their importance makes the target to achieve SDGs and tackle the issues increasingly more likely to happen. Many countries now show commitment to this. Of course, there´s still a long way to go, but I think that the discussions and the debate make the issue more mature and people are more prepared and readier now to consider their own contribution to sustainability.
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It´s a top down process that starts from governments and goes down to citizens,
but at the same time the debate within the communities is very important in order to
make the citizens embrace the idea of improving the way we live, the environment and taking things to the next level. We have to meet these targets gradually,
not only top down but also by addressing these issues bottom up
from the communities and the cities
bottom up to the government.
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In Cyprus there are a few SDGs that I would pay particular attention to, including Education (Cyprus has a fantastic record of many state and private universities) and environmental sustainability which is something every country including Cyprus has to be very committed to. I think investing in people and the community, in particular in Cyprus which is to some extend a multi-cultural community is also something very important. Certainly, also advancement in sense of technology, not only because I´m involved in this, but I believe that Cyprus as a country has enormous potential to become a role model for other countries as well. There´s a lot of potential in terms of innovation. Therefore, the sustainability area in advancement of technology is something we have to focus on. And certainly, sources of sustainability, contribution to inform people and a public debate are things that should be a priority in Cyprus as well. Of course, there are many other things that concern, decent work and economic growth or peace justice and strong institution. But I think as a country Cyprus has to prioritize and focus on certain aspects on which we can have an impact in the coming years and demonstrate to the rest of the world that we have pioneer innovation in these areas - meeting therefore the goals of sustainability.
There´s a number of countries that are working towards sustainability. I would say there are a few countries in Europe, Scandinavian countries in particular, central European countries such as Germany and Austria also have a very good record. The UK increasingly makes an effort actually to improve it´s contribution to sustainability. But also New Zealand and other countries in the world like Singapore or Canada that make huge efforts.
There´s a long way to go, but I think we can see improvement across continents and around the world each year. Therefore I´m very optimistic that even though there´s a lot of effort still to spend we are heading to the right direction.
Personally, I value everything that sustainability as a concept brings with it. I think that social justice (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) is also very important. It´s the foundation that provides a solid framework for everything else we create, including a sustainable environment. But without strong institutions and commitment to peace and justice I don’t think we can address issues like poverty, zero hunger, quality education, affordable energy and so on. Certainly, this requires a strong and democratic government that listens to people, that is able to actually take into account the “vibes from the ground” and tries to improve socially and economically the conditions for all the citizens in the very uncertain environment we live in. Apart from SDGs I value honesty, sincerity and supporting each other. As a person, I have not to harm other people and try to contribute neighbour citizen in any way every day. Nonetheless I think that SDGs cover a broad spectrum of social and economic aspects and I value the aspects and threads that emerge from them.
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They cover pretty much everything in terms of society, economy and technology. Therefore, I think if we love and support each other this is also contributing to sustainability and it´s goals.
In terms of a specific contribution of mine to reaching the SDGs I have been involved in the development of gas filtration devices using nanotechnology, specifically carbon nanotubes. We know that carbon capture, reducing fossil fuels and carbon emissions and cleaning the atmosphere from CO2 and NOx (Nitrogen oxide) are very significant targets that all governments have.
My invention is essentially a device using nanomaterials to filter CO2 as it comes through the device. It can be used in numerous areas, from power stations to domestic applications, boilers or cars. When I was in the UK I promoted this idea through the government and other means and the industry actually expressed strong interest in this technology. However, one of the challenges I found is that in order to implement any new technology in carbon capture you need to have a proper legislation. It´s not the invention itself that can find it´s own way to the industry. It depends on how the government legislates the technology, how it creates the framework for it to become a must. Consequently, industry and society will implement it one way or the other because the government imposed it to some extend on the overall infrastructure of industry, domestic applications, public authorities etc. to use this kind of technologies. I found it very frustrating that the legislation about implementing emerging technologies for carbon capture, filtration technologies and other technologies are constrained by the lack of progress in the governments and the authorities which doesn´t facilitate the implementation of those devices. Therefore, my own contribution to sustainability is the development of filtration technologies for carbon capture but as I said the framework of creating institutions and legislation for supporting these technologies is something that individual governments in the EU have to accilerate to see these technologies actually happen in the future.