ADSW plans student engagement events

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week has unveiled a number of events designed to engage students across the UAE.

The weeklong event aims to promote greater understanding of the core topics of renewable energy, clean technology, and sustainable development.

The Student Exclusive on January 19 is a special event dedicated to students. The event will expose students aged 15 and up to topics such as sustainability and renewable energy and encourage them to take an active role in being part of the solution.

Event highlights will include an interview with Grammy-nominated singer and solar entrepreneur Akon, a performance by a Paraguayan orchestra, which created instruments from garbage retrieved from a nearby landfill, videos capturing the work of the finalists of the eighth Zayed Future Energy Prize in the Global High Schools category, speeches from Emiratis who successfully turned their passion into real action, and live artistic renderings that reflect how young children see the future of sustainability.

At the Sustainability and Future Energy Workshop on January 20, students will engage with their peers from the 14 finalists in the Global High Schools category of the Zayed Future Energy Prize.

The workshop features a tutorial to assemble simple and sustainable bottle lamps from recycled materials by previous prize winner, Litter of Light. In addition, local students will hear from the soon-to-be announced winners of the prize's Global High Schools category on their experiences of submitting a project proposal for the prize followed by a discussion on the merits of sustainable energy.

Schools participating in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will also receive packs with sustainability-focused activity workbooks containing hands-on project based learning modules on topics like "how to build a sustainable model home". This year, the programme will include a solar car challenge.

Commenting on the importance of youth engagement activities, Masdar CEO Ahmad Belhoul said: "One of the most important missions of ADSW is to engage our local community in the UAE – especially our youth community – to understand more about why sustainability matters and how each person can be part of a more sustainable future. It is my hope that these special programs inspire the next generation of Emirati scientists and engineers who will become the leaders of the industry and the policy-makers of tomorrow."