Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The ninth edition of the Sharjah Sustainability Award has attracted 123 public and private schools, and 257 university students.

The Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) launched the award in October 2020, with several precautionary measures and special conditions for participants in line with the country’s guidelines to ensure the safety of schools and students amid the current coronavirus pandemic.

The award is held throughout the academic year and includes two categories, the first for school students and the second for university students.

This year’s award conditions require participating schools to develop a plan of precautionary measures to implement the project due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, new domains and categories with precautionary measures have been added, such as, the Outstanding Student’s Award category that encourage students to implement the project of reducing the consumption of electricity and water at home.

New domains and categories have been also designed to support and encourage  schools and students to participate and implement their projects through working remotely. For example, the domains of the Environmental Innovator Best Environmental Initiative in the Artificial Intelligence, and the Creative Writing of a Short Story and the production of short Movie domain which its themes are all related to the current Coronavirus pandemic.   

EPAA Chairperson Hana Saif Al Suwaidi said, “The Sharjah Sustainability Award is one of the most important programmes that EPAA hosts and that aims to consolidate the principles of sustainable development in the educational sector, through promoting the spirit of competition among students in schools and universities to invent and produce extraordinary sustainable projects that contribute to the development of sustainability on ground, in line with the EPAA’s mission to inspire the youth and encourage a passion for our natural environmental ecosystems.”    

Al Suwaidi added, “We are pleased to have launched the ninth edition of the Sharjah Sustainability Award for both the Universities category and the Green Schools category in October, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Sharjah Education Council, and Sharjah Private Education Authority. The number of schools and educational centers that have participated is 123 from various emirates of the country, and 275 students from public and private universities in Sharjah taking part.