gulf countries
With the Gulf region a key focus of the COP28 global climate summit in Dubai, universities in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are taking a more active role in promoting sustainability on and off campus.
All three countries face severe environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change, including extreme heat waves. Fortunately, the higher education sectors of these wealthy Arab countries are looking for solutions, for example in food and water security.
Qatar University is one example. Through its Center for Sustainable Development, the university engages 23,000 students in efforts to minimize food waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and convert food and other waste into biofuels. ing.
The university’s solar-powered agricultural greenhouse model, currently undergoing field trials in Qatar’s capital Doha, is one promising innovation to increase food security.
The prototype was built in 2018 to solve the shortcomings of traditional greenhouses in Qatar’s arid environment, such as summer solar radiation and heat intrusion. This is expected to serve as a blueprint to inform the development of Qatar’s first agricultural greenhouse standards.
influential research
At the same time, Qatar University’s Agricultural Research Station is working on a project to reduce food waste by converting it into natural fertilizer, in a country where food waste accounts for about 60% of municipal solid waste. , this could have major implications.
Furthermore, a research team at Qatar University has pioneered a sustainable way to recycle date palm leaf waste into the nanomaterial graphene quantum dots.
This product has the potential to revolutionize televisions, laptops, and mobile screens by enabling richer displays while consuming less power. There are over 62 million date palm trees in the Middle East and North Africa.
Qatar University also provides consulting to organizations and decision makers in sustainable planning and development.
In Bahrain, two institutions have innovated sustainable alternative transportation methods.
At Bahrain University of Technology, which enrolls approximately 3,500 students, third-year mechanical engineering students designed and built a solar-powered electric golf cart in July this year. The four-seater vehicle, equipped with solar panels on its roof, can reach speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour.
Meanwhile, mechatronics students at the private 2,500-student Bahrain University of Technology have designed a solar-powered vehicle that can operate at three different speeds depending on the terrain: 20, 30 and 45 kilometers per hour. The car took three months to design and was unveiled this summer.
Greener living on campus
The profile of these innovations will further increase with the United Arab Emirates hosting the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from November 30 to December 12, and will be gaining traction among the region’s senior leaders. There is growing momentum towards sustainability. Educational institution.
Dr. Raha Hakimdavar, Senior Advisor to the Dean at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), spoke at a conference on “Sustaining the Oasis: Envisioning the Future of Water Security in the Gulf” held at the university in November. said that its conclusions would be shared. “COP28 Presidency Team supporting water-related initiatives.”
GU-Q is based in Qatar’s Education City, which is home to branches of prestigious American universities, including Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
Founded in 2005 in partnership with Qatar Foundation, a state-led non-profit organization, GU-Q raises awareness of sustainability issues through initiatives such as Meatless Monday, No Elevator Day and No Parking Trial. The latter offers its employees a coffee shop. Vouchers for alternative transportation.
During Qatar Sustainability Week, which was held from November 4th to 11th, GU-Q partnered with Porsche to introduce two electric vehicle charging points in its parking lots.
Qatar Foundation’s flagship Education City houses eight universities and a significant group of LEED-certified student housing facilities.
Last year, the Qatar Foundation announced plans to partner with local conglomerate Seashore Group to build the country’s first recycling hub, Green Island, within Education City. Spanning more than 8,000 square meters and partially powered by solar panels, the new hub will house six recycling streams: paper, plastic, aluminum cans, e-waste, batteries and organic waste. configured.
While many universities in the region have introduced recycling and reuse programs, Bahrain-based Arya University’s plastic recycling efforts stand out in that they benefit both the environment and society.
Alia University is the first private university to be accredited in Bahrain, with 2,500 students enrolled at its campus in the capital, Manama.
Earlier this year, the company signed an agreement with the Bahrain Friends of the Disabled Association to donate plastic for recycling, with proceeds going to support mobility solutions. Through its Donate, Don’t Trash campaign, the university has so far managed to donate approximately 1,620 kilograms of plastic, which has funded two custom wheelchairs.
Our efforts in environmental conservation are also noteworthy.
For example, in December 2022, during Bahrain Gulf University’s annual Tree Planting Day, faculty and students planted 900 trees across the arid country.
Over the past two years, the university has refurbished 50 computers for internal use or donation, installed lighting sensors in the main building and transformed it into a “print-free” campus. The company plans to release a carpooling mobile app for universities in the coming months.
Meanwhile, in Kuwait, another small and wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council state facing significant environmental challenges, Canadian College Kuwait, a higher education institution focused on IT and business, is offering student-led team has developed a mobile application that helps clean up the environment. Needs cleaning.
The more contributions users make, such as reporting or cleaning up the area, the more points they receive, which can be redeemed for rewards. Ultimately, this will encourage users to develop more sustainable habits. The app, named ‘PURE’, won the Best Innovative Idea in his 2023 competition organized by INJAZ Kuwait, a non-governmental organization that empowers local youth.
Curriculum sustainability
In the classroom, sustainability education is increasingly being integrated into university curricula across the Gulf region. For example, Qatar University has been offering bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in environmental science since 2012 and has added sustainability courses to the university’s core curriculum.
Similarly, the University of Bahrain has been offering a master’s degree program in Environment and Sustainable Development since 2002, but this program was redeveloped in 2017 and is jointly offered by the university and the UK’s Prince’s Foundation .
The University of Bahrain also offers a PhD program in Environment and Sustainable Development in partnership with the United Nations University, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Environment Programme.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Gulf University has incorporated sustainability into 56 of its 2022-2023 program courses, and Bahrain’s Arya University is aligning its academic curriculum with some of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
“In their final projects and theses, students explore a variety of research topics that support green environments across a range of disciplines. ” said Dr. Esra Saleh Al Dayen, Associate Professor and Executive Director of Strategy, Quality and Sustainability at Aria University. university world news.
“As a result of this research, a number of student-led research papers addressing green energy and sustainable environments were published in scientific journals in the first quarter of 2023,” she said.
Universities in the Bay Area are making great strides toward sustainability. Although current efforts are primarily being led by large institutions, they can also impact other universities and colleges, creating a positive domino effect for the broader community.