On 23 March, the British Council UAE celebrated the closing of its Climate Connection Champions Programme and its participants, the young students that successfully created and implemented projects in their communities to create a greener, more sustainable country.
The programme, which started in October 2021 on the back of COP26 in the UK, saw 50 students from across the UAE create four social action plans to address the challenges of climate and environment in the country during a one-week workshop that also helped strengthen their leadership and team-working skills.
These plans were set up to create impact on local level and for the ceremony event the four groups came together to showcase their plans in practice in front of a judging panel, comprising of:
- Aida Salamanca, Country Director, British Council, UAE
- Muthanna G. Abdul Razzaq, President, American University in the Emirate, Dubai
The event was opened by Aida Salamanca, Country Director, British Council who highlighted the importance of climate action amongst the UAE youths and the country’s commitment to address environmental challenges, including through the education of students in the UAE.
All four plans were equally creative and inspirational, and the judges unanimously recognised the four most promising initiatives:
- Team Angles: Have created a mobile application that is an opportunity to make food waste management system fun and impactful for youth in the DIAC area. The application will offer 7 fun ways for students to prevent food waste and 3 AI initiatives for businesses to make an impact on the food waste management system.
- Team Go Green: Want to engage the education community in ensuring a safe environment, free from plastic waste, for the future.
- Team M’s: Aim to provide drinking water using sustainable methods to help reduce climate change.
- Team AJ:Are promoting awareness among individuals regarding the climate crisis and popularizes climate-friendly life choices by encouraging recycling and buying second-hand garments.
Aida Salamanca, Country Director of the British Council UAE, said: "The Climate Connection Champions programme has all been about empowering youths to take action on climate change and I want to congratulate all the students for their inspiring ideas and hard work on implementing these ideas over the last months. The UAE is home to beautiful nature and also depends on its nature in many ways and it has been so inspiring to see how the action plans have had great impact on the way people view climate and made actual difference when it comes to tackling environmental challenges in their communities.
I want to thank the American University in the Emirates for partnering with us on this important programme, which is pinnacle to our work on sustainability in the UAE in support of the country’s Vision 2030."
Prof. Muthanna G. Abdul Razzaq, President, American University in the Emirate, Dubai said, “It was our utmost pleasure to take part in such a promising program, which comes at the right time to take part in the UAE’s endeavors to lead the global efforts in the field of climate change, especially the UAE will be hosting the global climate summit COP 28 in 2023. In the American University in the Emirates, our motto is “Nothing is Impossible” and out of that spirit, we took the initiative years ago by offering a specialized course in sustainable energy to increase the students’ awareness about the importance of moving towards a greener community and to shape their thinking about the emerging challenges in this regard. I would like to take this opportunity to value our partnership with the British Council and to sincerely thank them for organizing this program, it’s always good to see such a level of collaboration to tackle global challenges.”
UK Trainer Mike Waldron, added:“Climate Champions are a movement now. They are powerful because they harness the best of individuals, to bring about change in communities for the common good. There is no better team in my mind, to address themselves to the challenge of climate action.”
The Climate Connection Champions programme has been funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the UK government.
Find out more on British Council’s work on climate here: https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/programmes/education/climate-champions