Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) focuses on ensuring the availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all. In Dubai, a desert city with limited freshwater resources, access to clean water and effective sanitation systems is a critical component of sustainable development.
Clean Water and Sanitation in Dubai:
Dubai faces unique challenges regarding clean water and sanitation due to its arid climate and scarcity of freshwater sources. However, the Dubai government has adopted innovative strategies for water conservation, desalination, and wastewater management, ensuring a consistent supply of clean water to residents and visitors.
Canadian University Dubai’s Role:
The Canadian University Dubai (CUD) recognizes the importance of water sustainability and sanitation both within its campus and in the wider Dubai community. Here’s how CUD contributes to SDG 6:
Campus Initiatives:
- Water Conservation: CUD promotes water conservation efforts on its campus, implementing measures such as low-flow faucets, water-efficient landscaping, and awareness campaigns to reduce water consumption.
- Wastewater Management: The university may invest in sustainable wastewater management systems, ensuring that wastewater is treated and reused where possible, reducing environmental impact.
- Sanitation Facilities: CUD provides well-maintained and clean sanitation facilities on campus, ensuring the well-being and comfort of students and staff.
Community Engagement:
Research and Innovation: CUD’s faculty and researchers may engage in water-related research, addressing issues such as water quality, conservation, and sustainable water management practices in Dubai.
Community Workshops: CUD might organize workshops and seminars on water conservation and sanitation practices, inviting experts and the public community to participate.
Collaboration with NGOs: CUD may collaborate with local non-governmental organizations and government agencies to support clean water and sanitation initiatives in underserved communities in Dubai.
Advocacy: The university may advocate for sustainable water policies and practices within the city, promoting the importance of clean water and effective sanitation systems.
In conclusion, Dubai’s commitment to clean water and sanitation is evident through its efforts to ensure water sustainability and sanitation infrastructure. The Canadian University Dubai plays a role in advancing this goal by promoting water conservation and sanitation practices within its campus and actively engaging with the wider community. By implementing sustainable measures, conducting research, and fostering awareness, CUD contributes to Dubai’s vision of a city where clean water and proper sanitation are accessible to all, ensuring a healthier and more sustainable future.
Incentivizing acceptability of climate change mitigation measures and adoption of low carbon lifestyles in the Gulf region
In collaboration with The London School of Economics & Political Science.
Climate change poses major risks for Gulf countries, potentially affecting their food security, water processing, and public health to an alarming extent, in a region where temperatures are already critically high. These countries have been undergoing an exponential economic and population growth, accompanied by a sustained growth in Greenhouse Gas emissions. To curb climate change, besides switching towards an energy mix with less fossil fuels, it is urgent to foster low-carbon lifestyles amongst the residents: for instance, in terms of transportation and energy consumption.
Dr Aseel Takshe, Assistant Professor and Head of the Environmental Health Sciences Department and Dr David Contu, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Management, were two Canadian University Dubai faculty members on this important project. The project aims to find and assess measures that could help make climate change mitigation measures more acceptable in the Gulf region. To this end, a central part of the investigation is to contribute to understanding what drives behaviours (what people do) and attitudes (what people think) around climate change. The project will focus on the following countries: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The study will include collecting qualitative data using focus groups to inform the subsequent preparation of the online surveys to be administered across the three countries, producing a rich and unique dataset. Findings and recommendations will be shared in the form of publications and seminars.
The project forms part of the Academic Collaboration with Arab Universities Programme, funded by the Emirates Foundation.
To find out more: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/research/collaboration-programme/2020-21/susana-mourato’
Principal Investigator
Dr. Susana Mourato | Susana is Professor of Environmental Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Davide Contu | Davide is Assistant Professor at Canadian University Dubai
Researchers
- Dr. Aseel Takshe | Aseel is Assistant Professor at Canadian University Dubai and Head of the Environmental Health Sciences Department at Canadian University Dubai
- Dr Ganga Shreedhar | Ganga is Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Water Conservation Project Wins CUD High School Innovation Challenge
A unique invention aimed at conserving natural rainwater for use in irrigation systems has won a national high school innovation competition, organized by Canadian University Dubai (CUD).
The competition, which was won by a team from Abu Dhabi Grammar School, was staged alongside the International Conference on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship held recently in Dubai. It challenged teams of senior high school students to develop a new technology, business concept, product or service that reflected one or more of the conference themes.
The top ten projects were presented to a multidisciplinary panel of academic judges during day one of the conference, with the top three winning teams being announced during the gala dinner, which concluded the two-day event.
The all-girl group of students – Hamida Al-Aribe, Sama Abdelsalam and Dana Dobrosavljevic – presented the winning entry on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Grammar School team, taking away AED 5,000 for their innovative and environmentally-conscious technology.
Hamida explained, “Our new conservative irrigation system supports the collection of rainwater, and its transportation to a storage box, from where it can then be used for irrigation purposes. The system also has soil moisture sensors that indicate the moisture in the soil to make sure that no water is wasted.”
Taking the second prize of AED 3,000 were Braden Bihag and Carl Vinter, representing their team from Dubai International Academy. The pair secured the runners-up position with their project AeroCig, a product that uses revolutionary filter technology to eradicate secondary and tertiary smoke from the burning end of a cigarette, to protect non-smokers in a smoking environment.
Third place in the competition was won by Noor Walid Eldegwy, Sawsan Nasser Elsharqawy, and Shahd Refaat Odeh, of Al Ma’arifa International School. The team took away AED 1,000 for their creative app, CAP (Capture.Airport.People), which aims to ease airport travel through a number of experience enhancement features.
The top ten shortlisted projects, which had previously been selected during a qualifying round at CUD, were showcased to more than 200 delegates attending the international conference, held at Atlantis, The Palm.
CUD Student Duo Win Funding for Environmental Health Project
October 15th, 2018 World Trade Centre: Two of Canadian University Dubai’s most talented and inventive Environmental Health students participated in the “Seeds of the Future” competition hosted by Huawei. They competed against 50 other inventors vying for worldwide recognition and were awarded funding of AED 25,000 to bring their project to life.
The event, which was held in cooperation with the Federal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and held under the patronage of the Ministry of Health, reached out to young minds in a bid to inspire innovation in the field of Environmental Health Management.
The competition took place over a 6 month period and among the original fifty entries from different educational institutions in the UAE, the CUD team was selected to be among the sixteen teams in the second round which was then trimmed to six teams in the third and final round.
Each of the six finalists received funding, and CUD’s own Maha Talli and Maitha Almarzooqi were one of them.
The team was supported by Dr. Yassen Alfoteih, Assistant Professor, who specializes in Environmental Biology. All hypothesis testing, technical support and portfolio were carried out at CUD science labs designed to find an effective, easy, cheap and practical product along with a phone app. to check the purity of drinking water
Maha Talli, when describing the motivation behind embarking on this competition said, “developing the App and seeing it come to life inspired me greatly because I knew that it would help save lives. Over 844 million people lack safe drinking water, a commodity we all take for granted, so this invention is my way of giving back and appreciating the little things that make all the difference.”
Water has no monetary valuation and many countries in the world facing scarcity and water stress. Moreover, declining water quality has become a global issue of concern as human populations grow, industrial and agricultural activities expand, and climate change threatens to cause major alterations to the hydrological cycle.
CUD should be proud of our students and wish them good fortune in the final leg of their journey as they use the funding to bring their invention to life and see it used in impoverished areas of Africa, South America, the Middle East, and beyond.
Happy Earth Day!
At CUD we treat everyday like it’s Earth Day!
CANADIAN UNIVERSITY DUBAI TEAM BUILDS SUSTAINABLE WATER TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION
An all-girl team of first-year engineering students from Canadian University Dubai (CUD) has developed an award-winning solution for the sustainable transportation of water. The wind-powered lifting system was recognised for its efficient, innovative design, winning first place in a recent competition staged by the global industry body, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
The team of seventeen-year-olds, Danica Reyes and Jana Nozamy, and eighteen-year-olds Marwa Khaled and Somayya Khaled, joined forces just a few weeks into their degree programme at CUD to embark on the engineering design project. The challenge was to build a cost-effective and efficient wind-powered wheel, capable of lifting water between two levels without the use of electricity.
All-girl group of first-year engineering students awarded by industry body
Explaining the purpose behind the project, Danica said, “The idea was to create a solution for water transportation in rural areas and other places with limited infrastructure. The prototype we developed combined modern engineering practices with an ancient pumping mechanism driven by wind power. The system demonstrates how centuries-old techniques can be combined with innovative approaches to produce sustainable energy.”
Speaking about the development process, Marwa explained: “We were all just starting out on our mechatronics degree and had to develop a whole new range of skills in a very short space of time. From product design to 3D printing and precision cutting, we had an exciting and challenging hands-on experience that helped us learn a lot about the practice of engineering very early in our studies.”
The team earned first place in the IEEE competition for pumping the highest volume of water
Somayya continued: “We went through a number of different ideas in designing the propeller blades to optimise the wind power and also in developing the pump action to increase the volume of water transferred. We were determined to get the best possible output so there was a lot of trial and error, and we tested four alternative approaches before creating the final solution.”
Featuring a unique combination of advanced technology in the form of 3D-printed components, alongside simple household items such as a wooden breadboard, the prototype successfully and efficiently pumped water in both upward and downward directions. The team earned first place in the IEEE competition for pumping the highest volume of water, combined with their creative design approach.
Speaking about their success Jana said: “As an all-girl team we are very proud that our project stood out at a competitive industry-led event. We feel empowered by this win to challenge the stereotypes that we’ve all encountered around women in science and technology, and we will continue to follow our passion for engineering and encourage other girls to do the same.”
Mentoring the team through the competition was Associate Professor, Dr Ahmed Al-Gindy, who added: “I was extremely impressed with the creativity the team showed in sourcing and adapting the raw materials and the excellent technical skills they demonstrated at such an early stage in their university studies. We want to encourage even more girls to participate in STEM subjects and this team has scored a remarkable achievement that will be an inspiration to other aspiring female engineers.”