Dubai Municipality’s Environment Center for Arab Cities (ECAT) honours winners of Academic Sustainability Ambassadors Award … reports Asian Lite News.
Dubai Municipality’s Environment Center for Arab Cities (ECAT) honoured the winners of the first phase of its Sustainability Ambassadors Award, entitled “Making the Change for a Sustainable Environmental Future.” Hussain Al Fardan, Director of ECAT and a number of strategic partners in the environment and education sector and parents of the participants in the competition were present on the occasion.
The competition was comprised of five environmental topics, including waste, energy, biodiversity, air quality. The competition was launched through a dedicated web site that allows students time to register, prepare and submit their research, which was followed by selecting the candidate students and inviting them to give a presentation on the research in the presence of the jury and evaluation before making the final decision on the winners.
“We launched this competition to raise the level of environmental awareness among school students and to enhance their ability to deliver innovative ideas centered on sustainable development that will create a generation that recognizes the importance of a future that preserves the environment and Earth’s natural resources sustainably,” said Al Fardan.
He also praised the success of the initiative and the active participation of the students and partners in its first edition, and the research works presented by the participants, which will contribute towards providing environmental solutions that meet the needs of the community to build Arab cities with a safe and healthy environment based on the concept of sustainable development and well-being.
Al Fardan added that ECAT intends to expand the second phase of the Sustainability Ambassadors Award and to open its doors to participation of school students from other Arab countries, which is in line with the vision of ECAT in raising environmental awareness throughout the Arab countries.
It is also worth mentioning that the competition was participated by 950 students from 30 schools, out of which 240 students were conferred the title of Sustainability Ambassadors title. In addition to the competition, ECAT has other environmental awareness programs such as the Eco Schools Program.
The Eco Schools Program aims at promoting the school to be an ideal environmental school through the implementation of the program’s criteria, which include reducing the school’s consumption of energy, water and natural resources, and raising awareness among the school’s students, the faculty, parents and the community. Since its inception, the program has attracted nearly 100 public and private schools and about 40 of them were awarded with the Green Flag Award, a laurel for which the school has to work hard to obtain by meeting the criteria of the program.
The Sustainability Ambassador Award website provides students with the opportunity to join, participate and become a Sustainability Ambassador by attending interactive workshops covering various environmental aspects relevant to the contest topics.