In the Education Supporting Institutions Category

Dubai, 15 February 2021:  Dubai Municipality has won the 23rd Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance award, organized by the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance, in the “Education Supporting Institutions Category.” 

The Municipality’s winning initiative, “CSR Activities in the Field of Environmental Sustainability for the Education Sector,” is considered one of the most important pioneering initiatives in the field of supporting the environmental education system and disseminating sustainable environmental knowledge in the UAE, to instill a culture of environmental protection and prepare future generations with the highest levels of awareness on important national environmental challenges and issues.

Through its joint community activities and comprehensive awareness programs targeting all segments of the society, Dubai Municipality contributes to achieving national indicators, goals and strategic themes to bring the UAE to the ranks of the best and most distinguished countries in all fields, especially in the field of environment and preservation. 

The Municipality’s community activities also support its ambitious vision of making Dubai a happy and sustainable city, as the CSR initiatives and awareness programs for the educational sector adopted by Dubai Municipality are among the most important sustainable programs in the field of environmental protection, based on the Municipality’s keenness to promote effective community interaction between various institutions and the local community. 

The award winning initiative, “CSR Activities in the Field of Environmental Sustainability for the Education Sector,” aims to enhance integration and cooperation with the strategic system objectives of the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance, whether through its strategic objectives such as sponsoring talented students and innovators and supporting and investing in their talents, or through the foundation’s operational goals such as motivating and encouraging students to join discovery campaigns and achieve advanced results in local and international competitions. 

The cooperation and interaction efforts with the educational sector had resulted in the adoption of the awareness and social responsibility initiative, 'An hour with a cleaning worker' at the national level as part of the initiatives plan for the Emirati schools.

The winning initiative, which is organized annually, includes many programs and events, the most prominent of which are the 'Clean Up the World' campaign, 'An Hour with the Cleaning Worker' initiative, 'Thermal Compost Containers' project, 'Innovations From Waste' competition, 'Sustainability Ambassadors' program and the 'Good Book' initiative, in addition to the implementation of many school lectures and workshops, as well as supporting programs and services provided to the educational sector.

During the past three years, the initiative has succeeded in accomplishing many remarkable achievements, as more than 56,000 students from most educational institutions in the emirate participated in the field volunteering activities within the campaign (Clean Up the World and the An Hour with the Cleaning Worker initiative) and 41 educational institutions participated in the field visit program for recyclable materials collection centers in the Emirate of Dubai, in addition to the participation of 3,262 students from 163 educational institutions in the competition, “Innovations from Waste.” 

Statistics and data of the awareness lectures and workshops for educational institutions have shown that 263 lectures, awareness programs and events were implemented, while 3,125 students benefitted from school awareness programs during holidays and school vacations, and 11 competitions were conducted that were benefitted by 246 educational institutions.