Masdar to leverage ‘year of reading’ to raise environmental awareness

Masdar to leverage ‘year of reading’ to raise environmental awareness

ABU DHABI // With the transition from the Year of Innovation to the Year of Reading, companies and educators alike are preparing to push environmental awareness to the forefront of the next generation’s minds.

During the Year of Innovation the UAE invested in environmental research and development in commitments such as the Mission Innovation, a programme backed by US president Barack Obama and French leader Francois Hollande to push public and private global clean energy innovation to address global climate change.
“Our commitment to innovation has been among the most ambitious in the world,” said Minister of State Dr Sultan Al Jaber last month, when he declared that the UAE would be doubling its investment in environmental research and development.
However, just because the Year of Innovation was over, it did not mean companies like Masdar would not participate in the Year of Reading, said Dr Ahmad Belhoul, chief executive of Masdar.
“Education, innovation, these two concepts are tied and when it comes to Masdar we are in the business of knowledge and research,” he said. “Reading is an integral part of that.”
He said this was critically important and would contribute to innovative thinking in the future.
“Without reading, there can be no knowledge. And without knowledge there can be no innovation. And without innovation there can be no development,” Dr Belhoul said.
“As we enter the Year of Reading, Masdar will continue to be a platform for everyone who wants to learn more about sustainability.”
They have planned to dedicate an entire day of events at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week titled “The Student Exclusive”, where Masdar will have a day of activities aimed at promoting reading, learning and youth.
D J, who teaches environmental science at a high-school in Abu Dhabi, said reading was the keystone of all forms of education.
“Learning about the environment and teaching it is an evolving topic, to comprehensively understand the subject necessitates being up to date with developments in the field,” she said.
The high-school teacher said being environmentally conscious requires people to be passionate about the subject and integrate it into their lives.
“Aside from just being knowledgeable about what’s going on, reading increases vocabulary communication skills and higher-order thinking,” she said.
“Be it the environment or not, this is our way of understanding the world around us.”