January 24, 2017
(Dubai): Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), in collaboration with the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) recently concluded a series of educational initiatives that aim to promote environmental awareness among students.
This partnership, which was initiatied in Q1 of 2016, included a series of educational projects; namely the interschool and intercollege public speaking competitons, in addition to the Annual Student Workshops programme. As a Strategic Educational Partner, this agreement has enabled ENOC's active involvement and proven commitment towards EEG's educational projects, and has positioned ENOC as a main sponsor of EEG's educational programmes.
The two organisations collaborated on various educational projects throughout the past year, starting with the Inter School Environmental Public Speaking Competition in April 2016, where a sustainability expert from ENOC joined as a member of the jury panel. The event saw a participation of over 500 students and teachers from all across the UAE. In addition, top schools from across the UAE were invited to debate the topic of life beyond oil as a fuel resource at ENOC's Annual Energy Award event.
Mrs Habiba Al Mar'ashi, Co-founder and Chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) said: "Environmental education plays a key role is shaping and moulding the current generation in becoming responsible citizens of the future. Our core values of raising awareness on environmental education and engaging with the different strata of the community falls in line with the goals of our visionary leaders. and I am delighted to have a strong orgainsation like ENOC who share these values with us. Our two organisations have been working towards a common goal of raising the sustainability standards across sectors. This past year has been very fruitful and I am confident that we will continue this collaborations for years to come".
At the 16th Annual Students Workshop recently held in Q4 of 2016, ENOC experts participated to discuss the importance of sustainability and living in a world that relies on renewable resources beyond oil with over 250 students. The presentation covered the sustainable practices adapted by ENOC and discussed the need to reduce dependence on oil in the coming years.
H.E Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO, ENOC said: "Environmental education fall sin line with the goals of our visionary leaders, who aspire to build a culture that that is based on education, innovation and creativity. Through our partnership with Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), we see the positive impact among our young generations who have started to recognize the importance of protecting the environment. Our collaboration with EEG has offered a platform for us to encourage the local community to become more involved in contributing to the country's prosperity."
November also saw ENOC joining EEG's Inter College Environmental Public Speaking Competition as a member of the jury panel. The two day competition saw the coming together of over 400 university students and teachers from diverse nationalities from across the UAE, GCC, Levant and North Africa region. The competition expanded its reach and saw first time participations from Sudan, Palestine, Tunisia, and Lebanon along with teams from Morocco, Jordan. Through this competition, EEG aimed to not only increase the levels of awareness and exposure of the future generations towards environmental sustainability.
To conclude the year's series of workshops, Emirates Gas (EMGAS) organized a training workshop on the safe applications and use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders. Students were also educated about the best practices and safest ways to handle and install LPG cylinders.
ENOC has partnered with EEG over the past year across different CSR initiatives such as the 'Clean Up UAE' campaign in order to raise awareness of environmental sustainability.