Bodour honours winners of Future Pioneers

Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of the American University of Sharjah, (AUS) honoured on Wednesday, from the BEEAH Headquarters in the Al Sajaa Desert, Sharjah, the 12 sets of winners of the 2025-2026 edition of the “Future Pioneers Award” (FPA).

Speaking on the significance of the award, which began, in 2010, as the “Environmental Excellence School Award,” Sheikha Bodour said: “The Future Pioneers Award signals a deepening commitment to collective action towards a healthier planet. Innovators are consistently transcending borders and languages, united by the urgency to rethink how we live, work, and preserve the world we call home.”

“This shared recognition and goal is once again clearly reflected in each submission, inspiring hope in me and everyone on our road to sustainability. I commend this year’s winners for setting new benchmarks in originality and impact, and for demonstrating what is possible when passion and purpose come together,” she also said.

The yearly event, which has transformed to include, aside from the Schools and University Category, the Corporate Category, Group Category, and Individual Category, had received since the September 2025 14th edition launch, over 970 submissions from the UAE, France, Saudi Arabia, Oman, India, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Egypt and Sudan.

The top three winners in each category received financial awards to advance and scale their innovations.

The seven-minute “Honour the Chain,” created by Grades 11 and 12 students of the Al Mawakeb School in Al Garhoud, Dubai – Nada Al Khatib, Maya Allouch, Myriam Ossayran, Yusup Nada, Daniel Shihat, and Amma Alalawi – was adjudged the best entry in the Schools and University Category by the seven-man jury.

Al Khatib, Ossayran, and Nada told Gulf Today that they came to know about the competition from their teacher, Sara Tabbara, who explained that it was the “active students in school and active members” of the Environmental and Sustainability Club that took the lead.

They were given the free hand to discuss on what entry to submit from the selection which also included Sustainability Initiative, Sustainability Prototype, and Sustainability Solution.

According to Grade 12 Al Khatib, they titled their documentary “Honour The Chain” because they wanted to demonstrate how a community – such as their school “from the kids to Grade 12” as well as the administrators, faculty members, and other personnel – could seriously live environmental protection and preservation, “in all ages.”

Grade 12 Nada said: “We wanted to show that our action today influences our future. So for the good of our kids or grandkids, for generations as they go on, our action today shapes how they would live. So it is important that we care for the world and for everyone.”

The two-week work, with the possible future filmmaker, Grade 12 Shihat at the helm, involved “several interviews” across their community.

Grade 11 Ossayran mentioned that in partnership with the Community Service Club, the Environmental and Sustainability Club had previously composed their school’s own “Clean Up Song” which is always played “after the bell rings during breaktime;” to encourage even the pupils to clean up: “Influence on the young is very important. We sometimes have the ‘collection of the most trash’ contest because there is a deeper issue.”

“That when we keep everything clean, there would be cleaner air, a cleaner environment. We would protect ourselves from diseases,” interjected Al Khatib.

Ossayran volunteered that making the documentary “was fun. We were given a great opportunity. We hope that our documentary inspires other and future generations to become more sustainable and protect the environment.”

On the documentary win, BEEAH Group Chief Executive Development Officer Hind Al Huwaidi told this reporter: “’Honour the Chain’ by Al Mawakeb School is a powerful example of how sustainability education can come to life when students are empowered to tell their own stories. As the only documentary to win in this edition, the film stood out for its strength of message that frames sustainability as a chain of responsibility. At BEEAH, we are proud to see young minds creatively engaging with environmental issues, weaving storytelling into real-world context for deeper connection and greater impact.”