Friday, November 25, 2022 – 1:33 PM
DUBAI, 25th November, 2019 (WAM) — The Emirates Environmental Group organized the 22nd edition of the Environmental Rhetoric Competition between colleges and universities, which concluded yesterday with the participation of 490 male and female students from 10 Arab countries, who formed 73 teams. They competed for the first time over 4 days at the Dubai Knowledge Park.
This bilingual competition (Arabic/English) was launched to provide a platform for the youth of the region to express their concerns regarding current sustainability issues and propose solutions. The event was held in a hybrid format.
The Emirates Environmental Group aims to educate and empower the younger generation to help give back to society and promote sustainable development in the region. The group has extended this competition from two days to 4, to enable more universities and colleges to benefit from this unique educational platform. .
73 participating teams competed for the competition cup within 4 topics: Are water security and food security interconnected? Maintaining the Real Lung of the Planet: A Key to Preventing Climate Change, Industrial Animal Farming – A Powerful Climate Change Influencer?, and Cities Development: Redesigning Infrastructure Towards Net Zero.
Habiba Al Marashi, founding member and chairperson of the group, said: “The Environmental Public Speaking Competition among colleges and universities was launched for the first time in 2001 in the UAE and through this programme, the group aims to motivate the future generation in the region to gain a clear understanding of contemporary environmental issues and Sharing their practical solutions.Since then, the group has continually built young people’s capacity for inquiry, critical thinking, leadership, and communication—the few vital qualities required to make a lasting impact in the world.”
She added, “For more than two decades, the College-University Environmental Speaking Competition has been providing a comprehensive, cross-border platform to affirm the role of youth as important contributors to achieving sustainable development. Given the popularity of this programme, the group also intends to take the platform a step further and open registrations for universities and Colleges outside the Arab region as well.
The jury included eight bilingual experts who are active in this field.
The competition for “Are water and food security interconnected” was won by the Academic Center team at the University of Bolton Ras Al Khaimah, and the winner for the topic “Preserving the true lungs of the planet: a key to preventing climate change” was won by the team of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, and On the topic “Industrial Animal Agriculture – a Powerful Influencer on Climate Change” the team won the Al-Yamamah University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and on the topic “Development of Cities: Redesigning Infrastructure towards Net Zero” the team won the Dubai Medical College for Girls, UAE.
Al Yamamah University – Riyadh – Saudi Arabia won the competition trophy, scoring the highest points in the competition. This is their third victory in the competition, so the university will be able to proudly keep the trophy always and highlight it as one of their proudest achievements.
During the closing ceremony of the competition, the head of the group announced that the competition in its next session – which coincides with the country’s hosting of the COP 28 Conference – will open its doors to universities and colleges outside the Arab region, which will devote the country’s efforts to achieving the goals of sustainable development.
Dina Omar / Salama Al Shamsi