Appreciation of the Vice Chancellor and Corporate sector

An event was held on 4^th April 2019 at the Senate Hall of the University of Colombo in appreciation of Senior Professor Lakshman Dissanayake, The Vice Chancellor and the corporate sector which contributed to the Business and Environment Degree Programme of the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. The first batch of students from this unique programme graduated in February 2019.

Senior officers from The Nations Trust Bank, Hatton National Bank, The Jetwing Group, Virtusa Ltd., Biodiversity Sri Lanka, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and visiting lecturers were present. The very supportive role played by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo was much appreciated as were the services rendered by the corporate sector that provided industrial training opportunities and taught topics of great relevance to the programme. Mrs. Shiranee Yasaratna, Advisor to Biodiversity Sri Lanka (The Sri Lanka Business and Biodiversity Platform), that has as its membership nearly 80 private sector companies including many leading organisations, all with sustainability programmes, addressed the gathering. She spoke of the relevance of this degree to the increasing role played by the private sector in helping to address Sri Lanka’s sustainability issues and emphasized that the private sector considers these topics to be very important and also the fact that global realities demand such responsibility. The Vice-Chancellor in his speech highlighted the steps taken by the University of Colombo in response to emerging needs and trends in Sri Lankan society as well as globally. Professor Nirmalie Pallewatta, Co-ordinator of the Business and Environment Programme in her speech, appreciated the contributions made by the private sector, visiting lecturers from external organisations, and the support provided by a range of persons from within the University of Colombo, the Faculty of Science and the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences to launch and conduct this programme