I have been teaching at the university level since 1998. Collaborating with international academia and building networks with various stakeholders has been essential for continuously enhancing my intellectual growth. I firmly believe that achieving sustainable development goals is not possible without the intellectual development of students and active societal engagement. Therefore, I am always eager to establish strong academic collaborations with international universities, including Cambodian institutions such as RULE, NUBB, NUM, and ITC.

Since 2016, I have been teaching at RULE while serving as a Full Professor at the University of Southern Denmark. In Cambodia, I began working closely with RULE through the DOCKSIDE Erasmus+ EU project and later became involved in the WANASEA project as one of the key European partners. Recently, together with RULE, we completed another Erasmus+ EU project, GreenCap, where I served as the coordinator for SDU. The valuable experiences I gained from these projects have motivated me to further contribute to strengthening the capacity of Cambodian HEIs in green growth and sustainable development. The GreenCap project, in particular, has allowed me to maintain a close relationship with RULE.

I have also participated in several courses and training workshops, including Green Business, Stakeholder Management, Sustainability and Business Games, and Risk Management, as part of RULE’s international program. Through this educational partnership, I have worked to promote sustainability education at RULE by integrating green practices into the existing curriculum and developing new courses on sustainable business, which is a top priority for Cambodia’s national growth and its efforts to attract foreign investment. In these courses, I aim to raise students’ awareness of the importance of sustainable development by collaborating with local industries, NGOs, and other stakeholders.

The intellectual development of my students is my top priority. I do not favor the traditional method of teaching where the instructor does all the talking and students merely listen. I believe that interactive teaching is the most effective way to engage students and motivate their learning process. Teaching should be student-centered rather than teacher-centered, which promotes active learning strategies. At the university level, I view teaching as a two-way learning process, where both students and teachers actively participate in the classroom. To ensure deep learning, I encourage open discussions that foster scholarly debate and active student involvement.

I am pleased to observe that RULE students are attentive, eager to participate in class discussions, and perform well in group work. I truly enjoy teaching them, as they are open to learning new things and ready to embrace challenges.

Current position 

Dewan Ahsan is a Professor in the Department of Business and Sustainability , University of Southern  Denmark (SDU). He is the co-coordinator to the Danish Center for Risk and Safety Management (a  center jointly run by Aalborg University and SDU).  

Educational qualifications 

  • Ph.D. in Economics (with specialization in Risk Management), SDU, Denmark, 2011 • Ph.D. in Marine Science, University of Cadiz, Spain, 2008 
  • MSc in Water and Coastal Management, University of Plymouth, UK, 2006. 

Research works and managerial skill 

During his 25 years career at university level Dewan Ahsan has gathered vast research experiences  management in marine resources in Northern Europe, South Asia and South-East Asia. His research  is primarily focused on analysis of risk and safety management, stakeholder involvement in risk  management, emergency management, climate change impact in natural resource management.  Ahsan always keen to conduct empirical based researches by involving the various stakeholders. He  has actively participated in several international collaborative researcher projects (with research grant  from EU, IUCN, NORHED, DANIDA, SIDA, DFID and others) as the leader, co-leader and a  researcher.  

Selected International Projects (on going and recently completed):  

  • “ Plastic Waste and Climate Change in Bangladesh’s Garment Industry” Funded by DANIDA  (implementing in Bangladesh; 2024-2029). 
  • „Managing Risk: Rescue Capability Assessment for Cruise Ship Accidents in the Nordic Arctic“.  Funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation (implementing in Nordic-Arctic countries ; 2024-2026). • “Electronic monitoring “n the Danish fishing boats in Kattegat: consequences for the fishermen”:  Supported by Fiskeafgiftsfonden, Denmark. Completed in 2023.  
  • “SusLeather (Sustainable Leather Tanning Industry in Bangladesh: Integrating Lean and Institutional  Logics into OHS Management”. Funded by DANIDA (implementing in Bangladesh; 2020-2025). • “The Polar Code and Maritime Safety”: Supported by The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and  Science. Completed in 2022 
  • “GreenCap (Enhancing green capability in HEI to foster sustainable development in Cambodia)”. Supported by EU Erasmus + (implementing in Cambodia; 2020-2024). 
  • “Global ecological and economic connections in Arctic and sub-Arctic crab fisheries”. Supported by  The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Completed in 2019. 
  • “Risks in offshore wind energy industry: An exploratory study from Denmark”. SDU Internal Funding.  Completed in 2018.  

Member of Steering Committees & networking 

  • Dewan is leading an international network on “Emergency Preparedness and Occupational  Health and Safety in Arctic Shipping”.  
  • He is the steering committee member of “SDU Arctic research network” and “SDU Work  Environment Network”.  
  • He is also member of “Blue SDU” network and “SDU governance and climate’ network. Professional Memberships

Dewan Ahsan is a member of the following professional bodies. 

  • The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) 
  • International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET) 
  • International Association for Society and Natural Resource 
  • World Aquaculture Society 

Dissemination 

Based on his research outputs, more than 40 scientific papers have been published in the international  peer reviewed journals. He has attended and presented papers in more than 25 international  conferences and workshops across the globe. Ahsan is also serving as reviewer in several peer  reviewed journals.  

Contact details  

Department of Business and Sustainability, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Campus  Esbjerg; Tel. office: +4565504188; Mobil: +4571412341; E-mail: [email protected] ; Web:  findresearcher.sdu.dk:8080/portal/da/person/dah 

List of Publication (selected) 

Ahsan D, Bronnmann J, Cianciotta S & la Motte ND. 2023. Review of expert elicitation methods to  assess vulnerability of coastal flooding on ecosystem services in Denmark. A report produced  for the Danish Coastal Authority – Kystdirektoratet.  

Rasmussen H B. and Ahsan D. 2022. The safety program as a tool of improvement for safety culture   in the workplace: An exploratory follow-up study from the Danish offshore oil and gas sector.   International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 

 DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2021.1985303.  

Kaiser BA, Kourantidou M and Ahsan D (et al.). 2021. Global ecological and economic connections  in Arctic and sub-Arctic crab markets. Marine Policy. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104442 Ahsan D, Brandt US and Farque H. 2021. Local agricultural practices to adapt with climate change.  Is sustainability a priority? Current Research in Environmental Sustainability.  doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2021.100065 

García-Lorenzo I, Ahsan DA and Varela-Lafuente M. 2021. Community-based fisheries  organizations and sustainable development: Lessons learned from a comparison between  European and Asian countries. Marine Policy. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104672 

Pedersen S and Ahsan D. 2020. Emergency preparedness and response: insights from the emerging  offshore wind industry. Safety Science 121: 516-528. 

Ahsan D. and Pedersen S. 2020. Stakeholders’ engagement in emergency management: An overview  from the Danish offshore wind sector. Risk Analysis Based on Data and Crisis Response Beyond  Knowledge. Huang, C. & Nivolianitou, Z. S. (eds.), CRC Press. 

Newton A, Icely J, Cristina S, Perillo G, Turner E, Ahsan DA (et al.) 2020. Anthropogenic, Direct  Pressures on Coastal Wetlands. Frontier in Ecology and Evolution.  doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.00144 

Ahsan D, Pedersen S, Nielsen M and Ovesen J.2019. Why does the offshore wind industry need  standardized HSE management systems? An evidence from Denmark. Renewable Energy: 691- 700. 

Ahsan D and Pedersen S. 2019. Stakeholders’ engagement in emergency management: An overview  from the Danish offshore wind sector. In Risk Analysis Based on Data and Crisis Response  Beyond Knowledge. Huang, C. & Nivolianitou, Z. S. (eds.). CRC Press. 

Ahsan D and Pedersen S. 2018. The influence of stakeholder groups in operation and maintenance  services of offshore wind farms: Lesson from Denmark. Renewable Energy 125: 819-828.

Rasmussen H B. and Ahsan D. 2018. Injuries and fatalities in Danish commercial fishing fleet in  1998–2016. Safety 4: 1-15  

Kristensen A, Ahsan D, Mehmood S. and Ahmed S.2017. Rescue emergency drone for fast response  to medical emergencies due to traffic accidents. International Journal of Health and medical  Engineering. 11: 1-5.