The 7th Annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) was held from 5-6 May 2022 in virtual. The Forum was organized by the UN interagency task team on STI for the SDGs (IATT). The theme for the STI Forum is “Science, technology and innovation for building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Participants included officials of the UN, representatives of Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and experts in relevant areas etc. The World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC) is invited to participate in the Forum by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). As requested, the WEDC has also submitted written input for 2 thematic sessions of the Forum centering on “Science, technology and innovation at the COVID-19 conjuncture” and “Innovation in education: towards quality access and common good”, to showcase what efforts the WEDC has made to facilitate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for the SDGs during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Science, Technology and Innovation
The WEDC has positively engaged in a program for digital design and women’s poverty alleviation initiated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). It is a program to elevate the industrial capacity and reduce poverty in Chengbu County, China. By providing training on digital design, which combines embroidery design, production and sales, the program has trained over 1200 rural women and assisted over 200 rural women to get jobs to achieve poverty alleviation. In addition, by an rural vitalization program named “One Village One Product” which empowers the rural areas with digital art and design, the economic value, cost effectiveness and environmental protection have been balanced to achieve coordinate symbiosis. Until now, we have served 20 villages in the field of industry in local areas, volunteered to develop over 50 products, and completed over 100 brand design services. The Program has promoted the technology’s empowerment to the industrial development of digital art, created digital art works by artificial intelligence technology, and promoted the level of rural women’s entrepreneurship. At present, 6 digital art enterprises have been incubated, where 45% employees are female. As of May, 2022, the average annual per capita income of local residents in 2018 has been tripled in 2022.

Educational Innovation
The WEDC and the UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (UNTBLDC) jointly initiated an International Design Education Program to admit 50 students from the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) for each year, cultivate them to become interdisciplinary industrial design engineering professionals with providing full scholarships. This can enhance the capacity building of the LDCs students, and close the gap of technology application among the least developed countries, developing countries and developed countries. Additionally, the WEDC has also worked with UNIDO to launch the Eco-Design Leading Talent Training Program. Until today, we have cultivated nearly 100 representatives from more than 40 countries in Asia-Pacific region and African region, where 48% trainees are female. They discussed with each other about edgy technologies and experiences in design, digital economy and innovation system area, which has significantly facilitated the building of partnerships.

After being granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC), the WEDC has taken more initiatives to promote diversified human ecology through design, promote healthy industrial ecology by the power of design, and create environmental ecology for sustainability by design. With the guidance of the mode, human ecology, industrial ecology and environmental ecology integrate and interconnect with each other, which facilitates the developments on science, technology and innovation, youth education, ecological construction, women empowerment, partnership building etc. in the post-pandemic era, and makes contributions to achieve the 2030 Agenda for SDGs adopted by the UN.