Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10) focuses on reducing inequalities within and among countries. In Dubai, a city known for its diversity, reducing inequalities is essential for creating an inclusive and harmonious society.

Reduced Inequalities in Dubai:

Dubai is a melting pot of cultures, with residents hailing from all over the world. While the city has experienced rapid economic growth, it has also recognized the importance of addressing income disparities, promoting social inclusion, and ensuring equal opportunities for all its residents. Government policies and initiatives have aimed at reducing inequalities in various aspects of life.

CUD’s Commitment to Reducing Inequalities:

The Canadian University Dubai (CUD) is dedicated to reducing inequalities both within its campus and in the broader Dubai community. Here’s how CUD is addressing this goal:

Campus Initiatives:

Diversity and Inclusion: CUD promotes diversity and inclusion by creating a campus environment where students and staff from various backgrounds feel respected and valued. This includes celebrating cultural diversity, offering support services, and ensuring equal access to education for all.

Scholarships and Financial Aid: CUD provides scholarships and financial aid programs to ensure that talented individuals, regardless of their financial circumstances, have access to quality education. This helps reduce educational inequalities.

Fair Employment Practices: The university adheres to fair employment practices, offering equal opportunities to all individuals, irrespective of their gender, nationality, or background.

Community Engagement:

Community Outreach: CUD may engage in community outreach programs that focus on empowering marginalized groups, providing educational support, and promoting skills development.

Partnerships: The university collaborates with local organizations, NGOs, and government agencies to address inequalities and support initiatives that promote social inclusion.

Research and Advocacy: CUD’s faculty and researchers may conduct research and advocacy work that highlights inequalities and provides recommendations for addressing them in Dubai.

Awareness Campaigns: CUD organizes awareness campaigns, workshops, and seminars on topics related to inequality, discrimination, and social justice, fostering open discussions within the community.

By promoting diversity, providing equal access to education, and actively engaging with the community, the Canadian University Dubai contributes to SDG 10 by working toward reducing inequalities in both its campus and the broader Dubai society. The university plays a vital role in shaping a more inclusive and equitable future where individuals from all walks of life have equal opportunities to thrive and contribute to the city’s continued development and prosperity.

IWS UAE & CUD | The Emirati Sustainable Art Exhibition | Spirit of Unity

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 25th, 2022:  The Continuing Education Department, a flagship at the Canadian University Dubai (CUD), in collaboration with International Watercolour Society (IWS UAE) United Arab Emirates hosted the 1st Emirati Sustainable Art Exhibition – emphasizing inclusion through engaging activities with People of Determination. 

The International Watercolour Society is the largest art community in the world, with a solid global presence in more than ninety countries.  The premium launch of the art collection was exhibited at CUD through the recognition of the change makers on the 25th and 26th November 2022 – the opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Buti Saeed Al Ghandi, Chancellor, Canadian University of Dubai, and the event was well-attended by the CUD community, external partners, distinguished guests and the public.  The two-day event included over fifty renowned Emirati artists – who participated by featuring their artworks. 

“Canadian University Dubai promotes a culture of sustainability and inclusivity in all its educational activities including arts. Organizing and collaborating for this great event was a true opportunity to celebrate UAE’s National Day through the presence of 50+ Local artists, a community gathering at CUD’s premises to share educational nuggets on key transformational topics and to cherish UAE’S values of inclusivity and tolerance.”  Hanane Ellaiti, Continuing Education Department

The theme, ‘Spirit of Unity, Sustainability through Art’ is the year of distinction in moving forward with determination, creativity and skill – connecting communities within the government, industry and education.  The student club, Emirati Society at the Canadian University Dubai, ensured a seamless synchronization to support the outreach to organizations supporting the Spirit of Unity.

During the event, several panel discussions and keynote addresses were delivered by experts in the field of art.  The panel discussion ‘Transforming Mindsets for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Culture’, together with educational workshops, promoted art and culture through engaging activities such as well-being activities, art competitions and recognitions.

“We cherish the values that Canada and the United Arab Emirates share – this event emphasizes inclusion, and the ‘oneness’ expressed through art and culture.”  Hanane Ellaiti, Continuing Education Department.

CUD entrepreneurship students win first prize in two prestigious enterprise competitions

An entrepreneurship team from Canadian University Dubai (CUD) has won first place in two prestigious enterprise and innovation competitions with a new application they developed to assist people of determination to pursue employment.  The technology, which provides home-based, work-related training using virtual reality, won first prize in the GCC-wide ProjectSet Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurship 2022 (ICE-22), and the SHERAA Entrepreneurship Centre Annual Pitching Competition (2022).

The application is the work of three second-year students majoring in architecture; Ambre Tournadre, Jenna Harchaoui and Juliana Gayed, known collectively as Team Starlight. The group came together to develop the solution as part of their entrepreneurship studies, under the mentorship of international award winning CUD Professor of Entrepreneurship, Dr. Naveed Yasin, and with the support of industry expert, Ms Esha Anwar Khurshid, Chief Visionary Officer at Key2Enable, based in the UAE. Team Starlight has since gone on to receive Є6000 in prize funds to develop their project through the Scaleaway Start-Up Program resulting from their win at ICE-22. In addition, the team will benefit from a package of business mentoring support worth 5000 AED, organized by the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre, following their first place in the SHERAA Pitching Competition.

The first competition win at ICE-22 saw the team triumph in a three-week virtual hackathon that hosted more than 112 participants from 36 universities across the GCC region. Ranked among the top eight entries from 78 submissions in phase one, Team Starlight went on to secure a first place victory in the final stage of the competition for presenting the best social innovation. Fuelled by this success, Dr. Naveed Yasin and Ms. Esha Anwar mentored the students further to compete at an entrepreneurship competition staged in Sharjah, which they also won, taking the first place prize in the SHERAA pitching competition.

Explaining the thinking behind the application, Ambre said, “Based on our entrepreneurship course at CUD and creating impact in social innovation, our goal was to help people of determination to develop workplace skills that could lead them into secure employment and build their independence. We discovered that traditional learning environments can cause anxiety for people with special needs, so we aimed to develop a solution that could address this. The application we have created uses virtual reality to enable them to learn and practice new skills safely, in their own environment, with the help of their primary caregivers.”

Speaking about the importance of the innovation, Jenna said, “Our research revealed that the rate of unemployment among people of determination is up to 80% on the Asian continent, while their exclusion from the workplace represents an annual loss of $1.2 trillion to global GPD. Our application focusses on developing skills in a holistic way, to ensure that people of determination are able to secure sustainable employment. It can be customized to individual needs, and we aim to cover a wide range of personal and professional skills, from self-care exercises such as breathing and meditation, to practical tasks such as customer service.”

Speaking about the competition experience, Juliana said, “This process has taught me many valuable lessons in entrepreneurship; it has advanced my knowledge of the business world and made me feel more confident in my presentation skills. Having competed against senior and postgraduate students from across the region, we were very proud to see our innovation win in prestigious competitions like ICE-22 and SHERAA Pitching Competition.” 

Mentoring the team throughout the process, CUD Professor of Entrepreneurship, Dr. Yasin commented, “CUD encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, and we believe in providing exciting opportunities for students to progress and grow both academically and professionally. At CUD, we are proud that our entrepreneurship students are demonstrating such impact at such prestigious competitions in the region; this is testament that entrepreneurship is embedded across the Canadian University Dubai. We are set to become one of the leading entrepreneurship universities in the region, which is fully engaged with the UAE and Canadian entrepreneurship ecosystem. On behalf of CUD, we congratulate Team Starlight on their success and look forward to supporting them as they move forward in their entrepreneurship journey.”

FOM hosts guest speaker on HRM and creating a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion

Tuesday, November 23, 2021: Continuing with our guest speaker sessions, the Faculty of Management (FOM) at Canadian University Dubai (CUD) recently welcomed Saroj V. Pathak, Head of Customer Support Middle East and Turkey at HP Inc. and Chairperson of the Equity workstream for Global Customer Support (CS) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), to our City Walk Campus on November 11, 2021.

Mr. Saroj recently moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates with over 24 years of diverse industry and global leadership experience in the Supply Chain and Customer Services domain.

During his talk on the role of human resources management (HRM) in creating a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, students learned about the importance of diversity in today’s workplace environment, how to move from promoting diversity to practicing inclusion, policies and processes for DE&I, current challenges in DE&I as well as how human resources (HR)roles revolve around employee well-being, growth, and inclusion.

Echoing his belief in continuous learning, Mr. Saroj said: “Pursuing graduate studies in HRM has the potential to enhance a candidate’s exposure and increase their chances of finding employment and growth in the competitive labor market.”

The HRM program at CUD develops student skills in strategic staffing, compensation and benefits, industrial relations, performance management, as well as training and development to help graduates shine in one of the fastest developing disciplines of the twenty-first century.

Our MBA in HRM specifically provides comprehensive insights into the application and orientation of business administration concepts in human capital management, enabling students to develop line management competence while addressing challenges in ethics, leadership and motivation, in a competitive business context.

Speaking to CUD’s commitment to our students, Dr. Rima M Bizri, Associate Professor, Canadian University Dubai added: “We believe in providing our students with a dynamic learning environment, encouraging guest speakers to visit our campus to share their alternative perspectives of thinking. By leading immersive discussions, we are able to generate important conversations in a variety of topic areas such as HRM and the future of human capital management.”

These unique learning opportunities at CUD provide our students with important industry insights to assist them in gaining a head-start in the UAE’s growing knowledge economy upon graduation.

Dubai Education Builds on Unique Talents of Students with Special Needs

The newly launch Potential Adaptive Child Education (PACE) Centre has quickly established itself as an alternative to traditional Special Education Needs (SEN) provision as it sets out to celebrate and nurture the unique talents of every student in its care.

The Centre, located in Umm Suqeim, is part of the Dubai Education portfolio that also includes Canadian University Dubai (CUD). Set in a colorfully engaging physical environment, students are challenged to learn to comfortably transition between academic classes and their special classes, which might include art, music, play therapy, computer science, and physical education, so that staff can tap into and nurture their individual skills and abilities.

Director Dr. Jaclyn Fowler reveals, “Our mission is to serve young people with special needs by creating opportunities for all our students to live their fullest, most joyous lives. We do this by operating within a systems approach where, for example, therapy and learning are combined in a seamless whole, not in isolation one from the other, so that therapy and learning inform and enhance one another.”

The Centre bring together teachers, therapists, learning support professionals, parents, and the wider community to play a collective role in creating a program that provides safe and outward-looking circles of care and life opportunities for students.

Launched at the start of the 2016-17 academic year, the Centre is characterized by its small, intimate setting, and is already cultivating the talents of special needs students who have demonstrated uniquely outstanding flair in disciplines such as music, sport, languages and numerical reasoning.

While relatively new to the Dubai SEN community, the Centre is making its mark by pursuing partnerships that aim to provide a pathway for students to explore their future educational opportunities and develop a map for emerging life choices.

Dr. Fowler says, “The philosophy of PACE is characterized by a sense of service. This service is focused not only on our own SEN community but also on the greater Dubai SEN community. We believe that we make the world a more open and accepting place for our own students when we are open enough to engage in the wider community.”

Sharing the CUD philosophy of inspiring minds, transforming lives, the ultimate goal of the PACE Centre is to ensure that each student receives an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that is based on their unique abilities and adapted to meet their varying needs. As Dr. Fowler concludes, “Here at PACE, we envision a time when every child in the UAE receives a customized learning program that leads to a full and happy life.”

Canadian University Dubai Chancellor discusses actions for inclusion

Following the successful gala event, ‘Music is our Voice’, which brought together people of determination and the local school community in a spectacular celebration of music, Canadian University Dubai (CUD) Chancellor, Mr. Buti Saeed Al Ghandi, has spoken to Edarabia about the institution’s actions towards promoting inclusion.

Why did CUD organize a music gala for people of determination? Would this be a yearly event?

The event was organized as part of the University’s ongoing endeavors to promote inclusion, understanding and coexistence, in the spirit of the UAE Year of Tolerance. Since 2017 we have seen the Canadian University Dubai EnSEmble grow and flourish into an extraordinary realization of individual and collective talent. We wanted to share that talent with our local community to mark Autism Awareness month.

We know from our work with people of determination that awareness and inclusion across wider society remain among the biggest challenges they face in everyday life. Canadian University Dubai wanted to bring people together in an inclusive celebration of music to help further advance the conversation about autism in the UAE; to change the discourse into concrete action and progress across every aspect of society – from education and employment to cultural and social interactions. The gala was also hosted as a fundraising event, to help support therapy, care and community initiatives for children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. We have been delighted by the response and similar future events.

Studies suggest that sports are associated not only with social inclusion, but also with physical wellbeing and the enhancement of self-esteem. Does music have the same effect?

Absolutely, music is by definition inclusive, without boundaries, music does not discriminate against anyone. Numerous studies have shown that the effect of music on confidence levels and self-esteem is significant. For instance, music has helped young people in conflict areas to cope with stress. In other contexts, music has given young refugees a voice allowing them to be active participants in society. Music has had, over the history of mankind, an incredible unifying and healing power.

How does CUD cater to students of determination?

Canadian University Dubai was among the first universities in the UAE to welcome students with special educational needs, and has supported more than 100 determined students facing a range of personal challenges, from visual impairment to autism.

The University has a number of formal support structures in place, such as scholarships for individuals with special needs, tutoring programs that offer one-on-one academic support, and a dedicated student counselor to offer pastoral care throughout the students’ studies. However, the essence of our approach is to tailor our support to the specific needs of each individual and to work with families to achieve this, not only from the practical perspective of delivering an education, but also to ensure that we support their social, cognitive and emotional development to achieve success.

Are schools equipped to meet the needs of gifted students in the regular education (inclusion) classroom?

Canadian University Dubai is able to provide a learning environment that meets the needs of students of all backgrounds. This means creating inclusive classrooms and providing the supplementary support measures to those students with special education needs, from additional academic tutoring or personal counseling, to extracurricular activities that provide an outlet for personal creative expression.

How does CUD equip its students with the right skills to enter the workforce? Are any special measures taken to prepare students of determination for the same?

All of our academic programs are industry-driven and are designed to develop the employability of our students. As market needs are constantly evolving, we regularly talk to our advisory boards, alumni and employers of our graduates to gauge if our courses match their specific current and future needs.

What we’ve learnt from this is that employers are increasingly looking for qualities and skills that transcend typical sector boundaries. Competencies such as teamwork, leadership, reasoning, responsiveness and ethics are the skills that will help the future workforce to navigate the rapid pace of change. These are the skills that students develop through their practical work, which includes course-related internships, but also through special initiatives like the Canadian University Dubai EnSEmble.

See the published article here:

https://www.edarabia.com/employers-looking-skills-transcend-typical-sector-boundaries

UAE Philharmonic Orchestra & Dubai Ensenble Choir for Determined Ones Holds Concert at Canadian University Dubai

November 25th, 2017, Dubai, U.A.E: The Canadian University Dubai hosted the U.A.E Philharmonic Orchestra and Dubai Ensenble – The U.A.E’s first choir for determined children comprised of 24 members. The concert was the choir’s first appearance accompanied by the UAE Philharmonic Orchestra and was staged to provide determined children with the opportunity to showcase their talents, teach them about teamwork and perseverance as well as allowing those with a special talent to learn about vocal training, musical movement as well as introduce them to the beauty of classical music.

The evening saw the U.A.E Philharmonic Orchestra led by Ms. Aveline Bouqet and The Ensenble Choir led by Rivaan Mager join musical talent and passion in an unparalleled performance. The Choir comprised of students with special needs from several special education centers from across the U.A.E sang to an audience of over 150 including parents, teachers, students, friends, and family. The Orchestra and Choir showcased Bethhoven’s Symphony No 5, as well as Gershwin and other notable classical musicians and both the Orchestra and Choir were rewarded with several standing ovations throughout the evening for their incredible performances.

CUD Students Take on Ericsson Innovation Challenge

December 14th, 2015: Two groups of students from Canadian University Dubai (CUD) are working on the development of unique initiatives aimed at transforming city life, as part of this year’s Ericsson Innovation Awards.

Architecture students Craig Muyambo, Faisal UK, Suleiman Gerawa, and Omar Sherif are developing a platform that will help meet the infrastructure requirements of future cities. Known as Architecture Revival Kit (ARK), the platform will connect architecture students with professionals, to share their projects, receive feedback on their work, and build their understanding of the needs for future city life.

Meanwhile, the multidisciplinary team of Master exchange student Nérimel Bessa, Telecommunications Engineering student Ali Ahmad, and Advertising student Omar Zain Faruki, is working on the development of an application that will support city residents with disabilities and special needs to navigate their daily lives. Known as ABLE, the app will combine information on community services, facilities and transportation to support the engagement of disabled people in city life.

The Ericsson Innovation Awards is a global competition, exclusively for students, offering unrivaled career development opportunities as well as cash prizes for the ultimate winners. The two CUD teams are now in the process of developing the prototype of their innovations and gathering support for their entries, which will be subject to a public vote to reach the next stage of the contest.

To discover more about ABLE and to vote for the application, visit: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/events/ericsson-innovation-awards/competition/#/submission/18306