The National Office of Buddhism of Thailand (ONaB), the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB), World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY) and World Buddhist University (WBU) in cooperation with The Kamlangjai Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajarakitiyabha, Young Buddhist Association of Thailand, The Caux Round Table, Sasin Centre for Sustainability Management and Faculty of Medicine Chiang Mai University are organizing the two-day international conference on ‘The Buddhist Path to Sustainable Development Goals’ at the WFB headquarters in Bangkok and Phuttamonthon Auditorium Hall, Phuttamonthon, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand on 4-5 December 2018.

The conference is organized as an honour of two important birthday occasions of Thailand. Firstly, remembering the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s birthday, 5 December 1927 which is also the Father Day and National Day of Thailand and the late 19th Supreme Patriarch, Somdet Phra Nyansamvara who was born on 3rd October 1913, the founding date of the NoB and WBU.

The Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand presented a holistic human development model popularly known as ‘Sufficiency Economy.’ In this regard, Madam Irina Bokova, a former Director-General of UNESCO once states: “His Majesty marked the history of the twentieth century – but this vision – and I would say wisdom – will mark the 21st century as well. He advocated a holistic vision of human development to empower the most disadvantaged, to achieve greater social equity by challenging classic growth patterns. This philosophical guidance resonates deeply with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015, which sets an ambitious and bold blueprint to advance human dignity and protect our planet.”

Similarly, the late Patriarch Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, the 19th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand was the head of the Sangha patronage of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) for over 25 years. It was on 1997 that the WFB honoured His Holiness by founding the WBU as a tribute to his 84th birthday.

The two-days international conference on ‘The Buddhist Path to Sustainable Development Goals’ designed in a way that the proceedings of the conference could be an alternative reference book for the field of SDGs and Buddhism.

The first day and morning session of the second day of the conference are dedicated to a scholarly workshop and discussion.

The afternoon session of the second day of the conference is dedicated for a public and media with a formal inagural ceremony and panel discussion. At the panel discussion, delegates and participants are encouraged to ask questions to panellist after their brief presentations. With a live Q&A session with scholars, public will get a chance to learn about the UN’s SDGs, the Buddhist path to SDGs and importantly how one can help to achieve the global agenda by 2030.