Jury selects 10 winners of Dubai International Award for Best Practices … reports Asian Lite News.
The International Jury of the Dubai International Award for Best Practices (DIABP) has completed the process of evaluating the 110 nominations from around the world and selected the winning 10 best practices of the 11th cycle of the award, organized by Dubai Municipality in coordination with the United Nations Center for Human Settlements (UNCHS-Habitat). The names of the winners will be officially announced at a later date.
The International Jury, headed by Eng. Mohammed AbdulAziz Najm, Director of Sewage Treatment Plant Department of Dubai Municipality and comprised of members from seven different countries from all continents selected by the United Nations, held its meeting during the last three days in Dubai.
The concluding session of the jury meeting was attended by Mohammed Mubarak Al Mutaiwei, Assistant Director General for Communications and Community Affairs at Dubai Municipality, on behalf of the Director General of Dubai Municipality. Khalid Mohammed Badri, Director of Corporate Marketing and Relations Department, Maryam Ahmed Bin Fahd, Director of Knowledge Management Department and Mohammed Al Louz, Head of Knowledge Exchange Section also attended the concluding session.
Al Mutaiwee discussed with the committee ideas and proposals that will enrich the award at this year’s cycle and the ways to develop the award criteria and how to improve them to reach better results and the impact of the upcoming Expo 2020, which is the most anticipated event in the coming period, on the projects participating this year’s cycle, which will contribute in enhancing competition to reach the highest standards in improving living conditions and developing services offered to individuals.
In October and November last year, the Technical Advisory Committee of DIABP had met in Dubai and shortlisted 110 nominations for award from the 523 nominations received during this cycle of the award. The International Jury has now decided to select 10 best practices from the submitted projects in preparation for submitting the report to Eng. Hussain Lootah, Director General of the Municipality.
The Jury also decided to host the winners in the previous cycles to get a brief on the impact of their participation in the award and the possibility of allowing university students and the new generation to attend the special ceremony for the award to know about the highlights of the best practices in improving the living conditions and benefiting from the experiences and projects involved, in addition to organizing seminars and dialogue sessions on the sidelines of the award to contribute to the exchange of experiences and ideas that promote the principle of development and improvement.
Winners were selected from each of the five branches of the Award. They include the Best Practices Award for National Urban Policy, the Best Practices Transfer Award, Redesigning Urban Spaces, the Individual Award for Contributing to the Urban Economy and Local Finance, and the Private Sector Award for Contribution to Regional Planning, Urban Planning and Design.
In addition, there is an award for Research in Legislation, Rules, Regulations and Government Systems. It should be noted that this award is devoted to the outstanding research in this pivotal area. The research will be assessed based on its handling of new topics and presenting new thoughts or having a great impact. The research should have provided important information, perspectives and analysis of the topics mentioned above or highlighted national or local governments that have adopted and implemented laws and regulatory mechanisms to support well planned urbanization, including legal frameworks and clear implementation mechanisms.
The DIABP was adopted in 1995 under the guidance of the late Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai, at the United Nations Conference held in Dubai from 19 to 22 November 1995, where 914 participants from 95 countries commended the best practices that have a positive impact on improving the living environment. Since then, the award has been supported by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Minister of Finance and Chairman of Dubai Municipality.
The award reflects the policy of the Government of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates and their keenness to achieve sustainable development in human settlements and environmental protection on the basis of international cooperation.
The award is a haven to find the most important projects that contribute to overcoming all the challenges facing different cities around the world. The previous cycles have witnessed the participation of many outstanding projects which have contributed effectively to the development and improvement of the level of basic services. It is also an opportunity for many projects to highlight and support it.