Over 500 students and teachers from across the UAE come together for an electrifying public speaking competition
(Dubai): Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) held it’s biggest ever Annual Inter School Environmental Public Speaking Competition on April 25th – 26th at Gloria Hotel, Dubai. Over 500 participants, comprising of 77 teams, came together from various government and private schools operating across all Emirates in the UAE for the 17th edition of the competition. Dubai National School, Al Barsha won the top spot for the third time making them the rightful owners of the prestigious rolling trophy.
The winners of the 17th Interschool Environmental Public Speaking competition were:
| Overall Winners |
| Overall Winner: Dubai National School (Girls), AlBarsha, Dubai
|
| Overall 1st Runner-up: Dubai National School, Al Twar, Dubai
|
| Overall 2nd Runner-up: Indian School, Al Ain |
| Topics for Sub-senior Category | Winners |
| People and the Planet: Finding a Sustainable Balance | Dubai National School (Girls), Al Barsha, Dubai |
| Quality Education: Roadmap to Sustainable Development | Dubai National Al Twar, Dubai |
| Topics for Senior Category | Winners |
| The Future of Power! | Dubai National School (Girls), AlBarsha, Dubai |
| Sustainable Food Systems – Understanding Food Security | United International Private School, Dubai |
Mrs Al Mar’ashi, Chairperson of EEG shared that “Emirates Environmental Group celebrates Earth Day each year, that falls on the 22nd of April, by organising this prestigious competition and envisages to bring together the students and teachers community from across UAE and esteemed guests from various organisations on a common platform. This gives the opportunity to share ideas and learn more about environmental challenges facing us today and come up with possible solutions to mitigate them”.
Thanking the visionary leadership of the country, Mrs Habiba shared that “the objective of the public speaking competition is to wisely engage the interest of the young people towards environmental research and learning and personality enhancement and facilitate speakers to become effective communicators. The competition aims to help motivate, influence, inform and translate environmental concerns through the eyes of the younger generation in an informative manner and provide the tools for giving sustainable solutions back to the community at large”.
She pointed out that “Youth have both specific concerns and certain responsibilities in relation to the environment. “They have a responsibility to engage in new forms of action and activism that can generate effective responses to ecological challenges. Today’s youth have a stronger awareness of the issues and a greater stake in long-term sustainability, and the environment is one area in which they ought to take the lead.” She urged the students to see and understand how sustainability affects every aspect of their lives. She added “If you are able to see it you will be able to be future advocates of sustainability”.
The two-day event brought forth diverse nationalities from both Arabic and English medium schools, hence allowing for a sharing of different perspectives. The variety of responses and delivery styles were a testament to how the competition develops students’ critical thinking, public speaking and research skills. The teams were judged on their content and presentation by a bi-lingual jury that included Mr. Hamdan Al Doukhi, Sr. EHS Engineer, ENOC; Eng. Mohammad Ghunaim, Senior Sustainability Engineer, Diamond Developers; Dr Faiza Shahdoud Naser, University of Sharjah; Ms Nancy Nouamieh, Assistant Vice President, Abela & Co. and Mrs Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Chairperson, EEG.
Building on the MOU signed with ENOC and The Sustainable City in 2016, the event saw both organisations coming on board as main sponsors.
His Excellency Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO of ENOC, said: “We are delighted to be part of this year’s Inter School Environmental Public Speaking Competition. We have witnessed outstanding progress in the level of participants this year and are proud to be supporting an initiative that is dedicated towards environmental sustainability. As a national company, we will continue to encourage our future generations to strengthen their understanding of sustainability and adopt sustainable practices in their daily lives in order to contribute to the betterment of our future.”
Sharing his thoughts and excitement about the competition, Mr Faris Saeed, CEO of The Sustainable City – a project by Diamond Developers said: “The Sustainable City is proud to be a strategic educational partner for Emirates Environmental Group’s educational programmes, which includes the upcoming Inter School Environmental Public Speaking Competition. Our organisations share many important values, making particular efforts to inspire a future generation to continue the good work, pick up the sustainability baton with enthusiasm, and run with it towards a brighter future. The competition furthers this vision and has our full support, as it encourages students to become eager ambassadors for sustainability.”
Emirates Environmental Group (EEG): EEG is a professional working group devoted to protecting the environment through the means of education, action programs and community involvement. The organization is open to men and women of all nationalities EEG is actively encouraged and supported by concerned local and federal government agencies. It is the first environmental NGO in the world to be ISO 14001 certified and the only organization of its kind in the UAE with accredited status to the United Nations Convention to Combating Desertification (UNCCD) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). EEG is the member of the UN Global Compact, the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and the GEF-CSO Network. For more information visit our bi-lingual website: www.eeg-uae.org
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