The first stakeholder meeting of the proposed Faculty of Urban and Aquatic Bioresources was held on the 15th of October 2019 at the Fingara Town and Country Club. Many stakeholders from diverse areas and fields attended the meeting to provide valuable feedback and comment with regard to the establishment of the Faculty.
The meeting was graced by Sr. Prof. Sampath Amaratunge, Vice-Chancellor, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Prof. Gamini Senanayake, Lead Consultant for the proposed Faculty of Urban and Aquatic Bioresources, Prof. Pradeep Jayaweera, Coordinator, proposed Faculty of Urban and Aquatic Bioresources, Dr. Udari Ranasingh, Research Assistant cum Secretary proposed Faculty of Urban and Aquatic Bioresources.
It was emphasized at the meeting that the proposed faculty will be established with the aim of addressing national requirements and molding a set of students who are capable of creating new jobs as opposed to those who simply seek them.
The Faculty will be the first in the nation that will be looking at the urban and aquatic spheres of agriculture. With the growth of the urban population and population in general traditional agriculture is facing many issues especially in terms of space.
It is the view of the Vice-Chancellor, that problems are a different form of opportunities and that the solutions brought forth will be the stepping stones of development. Thereby it is evident that new technologies will be the reality of agriculture in the future and while the concept of Knowledge economy has presently obtained a respectable footing, it will soon shift to a Bio-Economy.
The University of Sri Jayewardenepura hopes to cater to the needs that will arise in the bio-economy by creating graduates that will be capable of facing challenges presented by the evolving environment and economy.
