In celebration of the 18th National Environment Day, and in implementation of the objectives of the national initiatives launched by the UAE leadership, to build a competitive, knowledge-based, green, and sustainable economy, His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, has launched Green Economy – Innovation and Sustainability Award.
His Excellency added that the leadership is harnessing all its capabilities so that UAE nationals can be one of the happiest peoples of the world, the State has achieved, in all of its sectors, strong competitive indicators at the regional and international levels, and to maintain these indicators and achieve higher rankings, it is necessary to work and persevere and provide unlimited giving, and since we are going to build a green, sustainable, competitive and knowledge economy, this requires continuing on the path of scientific research, innovation and creativity, the aim of this award is to encourage our students to direct their interests and research in areas that support a green economy in the UAE.
The Award is the embodiment of the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, which was launched on January 2012 under the slogan “Green Economy for Sustainable Development”, to make the UAE one of the world’s leaders in this area. It is also the embodiment of the four-track National Strategy for Innovation Initiative, launched by His Highness in October 2014, one of which seeks to establish an environment conducive to innovation, supportive to incubators of innovation, and builder of specialized national cadres that possess high skills in innovation through the consolidation of a national culture that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship.
His Excellency the Minister launched the Award because he believes that students are the foundation for achieving the goals of these initiatives, by directing them to areas of research and innovation in the fields required for the transformation to a green economy and clean technology, in order to contribute their creativity and research to achieving the optimal exploitation of wealth and natural resources, while preserving the environment, and build the capacity in order to achieve sustainable development according to the UAE Vision 2021.
The annual Award aims to motivate UAE undergraduate and graduate students inside the State and abroad, in order to utilize their skills and scientific abilities in the competition to reach the best scientific innovation in the subjects of sustainable environment, enhancement of natural resources, clean energies, adaptation to climate change, green life, and optimal use of resources.
The Award consists of four categories: Scholarship Undergraduate Students Award, Scholarship Graduate Students Award, Undergraduate Students in Public and Accredited Private Higher Education Institutions in the State Award, and Graduate Students in Public and Accredited Private Higher Education Institutions in the State Award.
Among the most important evaluation criteria are the correlation between the submitted project and the UAE’s priority in sustainable development as per the UAE Vision 2021 and the National Agenda, and the level of creativity in terms of tradition and modernity in the project, and the project’s readiness in efficiency and performance in solving the targeted problem in areas of sustainable development, in addition to the possibility of achieving interest and the applications resulting from implementation of the project, the viability of the product and the size of financial returns when converted to an economic project or adopting it in existing companies.
There will be one valuable prize for each category of the Award, receiving applications will commence in March, and end on May 30th, 2015, while the results will be announced in October 2015, provided that the student applying to the award be an Emariti and is studying in the State abroad, or have graduated within a maximum of two years, and complete the application form and all required documentation and submitting it electronically with the attached documents through the Ministry’s website.
There will also be introductory workshops about the Award in universities.