The Executive Council of Dubai has approved the policy to limit single-use bags by imposing a tariff of 25 fils on single-use bags used for carrying goods, starting from 1st July, 2022.

The tariff will be implemented in all stores across Dubai including, but not limited to, retail stores, textile and electronic stores, restaurants, pharmacies, online and e-commerce deliveries.

As a subsequent step, the policy will be evaluated over several stages until single-use carrier bags are completely banned within a span of two years, following the assessment of behavioural changes in the community. With sustainability becoming a global priority, changing the behaviour of the community to reduce the environmental footprint of individuals is crucial to preserve natural resources and environmental habitats. The changes will ultimately contribute to a healthier environment, which is vital to maintaining a sustainable and high quality of life.

The introduction of the policy to limit and ultimately ban single-use bags is aimed at strengthening Dubai’s sustainability objectives in line with global best practices for reducing the consumption of single-use bags. The tariff on single-use bags is currently in effect in over 30 countries, and a partial or complete ban has been implemented in more than 90 countries globally, reflecting the magnitude of international efforts to reduce the consumption of single-use bags.

Studies have proven over the past decades that there is an evident connection between the quality of the environment and the quality of life. Key areas of association include: the impact of air, water, and soil quality on physical health; the importance of natural habitats and biodiversity on mental health; and the significant role that the environment plays in the local economy across vital sectors such as tourism, entertainment, and food production, amongst others.

In line with the environmental objectives set out in the National Agenda, dedicated government entities have implemented programmes to enhance environmental protection and resource conservation. These include an integrated waste management strategy for the emirate; reducing harmful fishing practices such as banning the use of nets; and the enforcement of fees for waste disposal beginning January 2022, which significantly helps reduce waste production and dumping of waste in landfills.

The Dubai Government has also invested in several projects aimed at turning waste into resources. Furthermore, the government actively encourages the Dubai community to improve practices in sustainable waste segregation and disposal. These efforts contribute to providing a healthy environment as well as the conditions to encourage investments in sustainable waste and resource management, in line with the principles of a circular economy. These waste management efforts will fundamentally promote economic, environmental, and social sustainability while building an ecosystem that preserves natural resources, and supports the adoption of a green, low carbon economy in alignment with the Dubai Waste Management Strategy 2041, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals announced by the United Nations for 2030.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) at the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), will organise tomorrow a ceremony to honour the winners of the 16th edition of the award at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

One of the most prominent literary awards in the Arab region and the world, the annual award celebrates leading authors, thinkers, publishers, literary figures and promising new talents whose writings and translations have had a notable impact on the intellectual, literary, and social movements in the Arab world and beyond. This year, the Award honoured seven literary figures, authors, and thinkers across seven of its categories, as well as a prominent Egyptian publishing house.

In the Literature category, the Award went to Emirati author Maisoon Saqer for her book ‘Maq’ha Reesh, Ain Ala Massr (Eye on Egypt: Café Riche)’, published by Nahdet Misr Publishing in 2021, while Syrian writer Maria Daadoush won in the Children’s Literature category for her novel ‘Loghz al Kora al Zujajiya (The Mystery of the Glass Ball)’, published by Dar Al-Saqi in 2021. Meanwhile, Dr. Mohamed Al-Maztouri of Tunisia won in the Young Author category with his book ‘Al Badawa fi al She’er al Arabi al Qadeem’ (Bedouinism in Ancient Arabic Poetry), a study issued by the Faculty of Literature, Arts and Humanities at Manouba University and the GLD Foundation (Al-Atrash Complex for Specialised Books) in 2021.

The Translation category saw Dr. Ahmed Aladawi from Egypt win the Award for his work on translating ‘Nash’at al Insaniyat Einda al Muslimeen wa fi al Gharb al Maseehi’ (The Rise of Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West) by George Makdisi from English to Arabic, which was published by Madarat for Research and Publishing in 2021.

Meanwhile, Moroccan author Mohamed Aldahi’s book ‘Al Sarid wa Taw’am al Rooh: Min al Tamtheel ila al Istinaa’ (The Narrator and the Soulmate: From Acting to Faking) – issued by Le Centre Culturel du Livre in 2021 – won in the Art & Literary Criticism category.

The Arab Culture in Other Languages category saw Dr. Muhsin J. Al-Musawi from Iraq and the USA win for his book ‘The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures: Global Commodification, Translation, and the Culture Industry’, issued by Cambridge University Press in 2021, while the Award for Publishing & Technology went to Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the Library of Alexandria) in Egypt.

The Cultural Personality of the Year Award went to Dr Abdullah Al-Ghathami in recognition of his notable contributions to cultural movements in the region and the Arab world.

The recipient of the ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’ accolade will be awarded a gold medal marked with the SZBA logo, as well as a certificate of merit and AED1 million prize.

Winners of the other categories will each receive a gold medal, a certificate of merit, and a prize of AED750,000.

The ceremony will be streamed live on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

for more information click : here

The 31st Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) will offer its visitors an opportunity to discover renowned works by German authors, thinkers and artists and the country’s rich culture of arts and creative works.

Taking place from 23rd to 29th May at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) and organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the fair announced that it will welcome Germany as this year’s Guest of Honour, reflecting the solid partnership between Germany and the UAE across various cultural, intellectual, and creative fields.

Fairgoers can explore the immortal works of poet, playwright and novelist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and meet him in person in the dedicated German Pavilion, introducing visitors to the long and illustrious German tradition of creativity, literature, and intellectual and theatrical works.

ADIBF offers a wide range of programmes for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. More than 650 events are being staged including film screenings, discussions, art workshops, children’s activities and more.

The German Pavilion will host a programme packed with cultural and professional events with about 35 publishers present. Around 80 authors, experts, publishers and creators taking part in more than 40 sessions, including daily workshops for children and young adults, author discussions, performances, a trade programme, as well as a Virtual Reality (VR) experience of Goethe’s play Faust. The programmes at the German Pavilion will focus on topics including Future Lab, Inspiration, Soccer, (Un)certainties and Translation. In addition, there will be screenings of German short films as part of the ‘Cinema Box’, and other activities that demonstrate the cultural and intellectual ties between Germany, the UAE and the Arab world.

Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of ALC, said, “Human culture is passed down through generations to remain accessible to people and civilisations, and to offer a gateway for different nations to exchange knowledge, beauty and art. The UAE is proud to be a meeting point hosting various cultures and showcasing their tremendous creative output.

“We have selected Germany as the Guest of Honour at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair because of the long-standing relations we share with the German Federation across various sectors. The Fair is now at the heart of our project for the creative industries; it has a tremendous impact on the knowledge economy, which, in turn, is an integral part of the UAE’s development.”

For his part, Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse/ Frankfurt Book Fair, said, “We are delighted to participate in this important cultural event and introduce German culture from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. We have set a busy schedule of events, bringing together 10 authors and illustrators and more than 30 German publishers to display their latest works and achievements. The objective is to promote collaboration and common grounds between Arab and German intellectuals and publishers, and we look forward to being part of this event, especially after two years of distancing caused by the pandemic and its impact on the publishing industry.

“This participation is certainly an ideal opportunity to build bridges between Arab and Emirati culture, on the one hand, and German culture, on the other, and to benefit from the exhibition’s renowned status to strengthen partnership and cooperation among publishers around the world.”

Following Friday’s historic signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the UAE and India, the new cultural council will promote even closer cultural cooperation between the two countries.

The Council will be tasked with promoting facets of shared history, facilitating and promoting cross-cultural exchanges, cultural projects, exhibitions and dialogue between the thought leaders, explained HE Omar Saif Ghobash, UAE Assistant Minister of Public and Cultural Diplomacy, whose office has been assigned to coordinate the initiative with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

With the announcement of the council, both the countries are poised to explore the shared cultural heritage for paving the way for shared future collaborations, Ghobash said at the opening session titled ‘UAE and India: A Shared History’.

MoU on cultural collaboration

Speaking to Gulf News, he said both countries have already finalised a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to have cultural collaborations between the two countries. He added that Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, himself took interest in developing the MoU.

“There was a great response from the Indian side, and us too. My team worked on that document for a few weeks. And finally, it was recognised in the official statement by the Indian and UAE leadership’s meeting. So that’s a great kind of step forward. We already know what kinds of things that we want to do. And the idea is to get as many possible points of connection between Indian cultural actors and Emirati actors as well. And hopefully this will be a model for how we can do it with other countries.”

The minister said he would prefer “a low-cost approach and look at the big impact.”

The festival was inaugurated by the Indian Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir.

During the session, Ghobash and former Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri discussed possibilities of involving Emiratis in cultural events organised by the Indian expat community, arranging Emirati students’ internship in India, student exchange programmes, and participation of Emirati delegations in cultural events in India. Ghobash said the first such visit would happen at the upcoming Jaipur Literature Festival.

Identifying gaps

Suri, who is currently a distinguished fellow with the Delhi-based independent global think-tank Observer Research Foundation and the co-chair of FICCI Committee for India Pavilion, identified a gap in involving Emiratis’ participation in the huge number of cultural events organised by the Indian expats who form one third of the country’s population.

“Much of the Indian cultural activities we see in the UAE is aimed at the Indian community. We collectively have a responsibility to fix this,” said Suri.

He added that the youngsters of both the UAE and India are looking to the West rather than looking at each other. “We need to get them to converse with each other.”

While Suri proposed to find ways to connect writers, thinkers and intellectuals, Ghobash pointed out that there was a lot of room for translation between the literature of both the countries.

The festival is organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in partnership with the Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy (OPCD) at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and India Pavilion and VFS Global.

The Festival has been curated by Teamwork Arts, India’s leading art and culture curatorial company and the producer of the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival. Sanjoy K Roy, managing director of Teamwork Arts moderated the opening session.

The first day of the event also witnessed sessions on travel and technology, space sector and creative economy as well.

Source and pictures: GulfNews.

Over two days, the ‘Be Inspired: Festival of Ideas’ will explore innovation, across sectors, that presents solutions and opportunities for the future of our world with key speakers from India and the UAE.

“The Festival of Ideas will facilitate dialogue and knowledge exchange between thought leaders from the UAE and India and enrich the strong friendship that exists between our two countries today.” said HE Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister of Public and Cultural Diplomacy

Taking a cue from the February 18^th signing of the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (UAE-India CEPA), the ‘Be Inspired: Festival of Ideas’ will present a series of panel discussions – all open to the public – which bring together scientists, business leaders, designers, policy experts and artists from India and the UAE who will explore and celebrate innovation, across sectors.  

Hosted at the auditorium of the India Pavilion at Expo 2020, the ‘Be Inspired: Festival of Ideas’ is brought to you by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), in partnership with the Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the UAE and the India Pavilion in Dubai Expo 2020. The Festival has been curated by Teamwork Arts, India’s leading art and culture curatorial company and the producer of the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival.

Sunday, February 20th

• UAE AND INDIA: A Shared History : 4:00pm – 4:45pm with HE Omar Ghobash, Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy, HE Sanjay Sudhir, Indian Ambassador to the UAE
• Flight Path to the Future: Travel and Technology : 4:55pm – 5:40pm
• Creative Economy: The Sunshine Sector : 5:50pm – 6:35pm
• The World is Our Oyster: The Future of Business for India & UAE : 6:45pm – 7:30pm 

Monday, February 21st

• UAE & India: Charting New Frontiers in Space : 4:00pm – 4:50pm
• The Women Who Lead Us: Fueling Entrepreneurship : 5:00pm – 5:50pm 
• Can Fashion make a Statement in Sustainability? : 6:00pm – 6.50pm

All talks are free to the public (after accessing Expo2020 Dubai). No registration needed

What will our life look like? What will the future hold for our children? Today, the future is at the very doorstep of humanity, the opportunity is here as we believe that the future is something we ourselves can design.

Driven by the wise vision of its leadership, as always, Dubai has brought to life a one of a kind hub, for visionaries, talents and great minds from around the globe to shape the future, it is the eagerly-awaited Museum of the Future, which will open its doors to the rest of the world on February 22, 2022, welcoming guests to embark on a journey to the year 2071.

From Dubai and the UAE to the rest of the world, the Museum of the Future is a ‘living museum’ aiming to contribute to a deep intellectual movement, through connecting thinkers and experts from around the world and acting as a test bed for future generations to create innovative solutions for the challenges facing society.

As described by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the Museum of the Future is “the most beautiful building on Earth“. It is a spectacular building that speaks Arabic, representing the revival of Arab excellence in the fields of science, mathematics and research, and an appreciation of the past Arab intellectuals that aims at resuming Arab civilization and renaissance.

Rising 77 metres above the ground, the striking structure is an architectural marvel, built by using robotic technology and with an emphasis on sustainability. The building is powered with 4,000 megawatts of solar energy. The pillarless structure is home to seven unique and distinct floors. For its visitors, the museum comprises an unparalleled window to experience the future in all its aspects and dimensions.

The Museum of the Future employs the latest technologies of virtual and augmented reality, data analysis, artificial intelligence and human machine interaction. Answering many questions related to the future of humans, cities, societies, life on planet Earth and outer space, the museum’s exhibits orchestrate a world beyond human knowledge, providing visitors with innovative experiences unfold across five different exhibitions that explore the future of space travel and living, climate change and ecology, health, wellness, and spirituality.

Coming face-to-face with never-seen-before space technology and getting introduced to humanity’s home in outer space, the visitor’s journey begins in the depths of our solar system. Paying tribute to the inspiring Emirates Mars Mission project that saw the Hope Probe successfully enter Mars’ orbit last year, this exhibit compliments a crowning milestone for the UAE and the Arab World.

The Museum of the Future experience encourages its visitors to partake in special missions and, unlike a traditional museum that showcases fragments of the past, it provides a portal to the future, in a scientific attempt to explore its variables, potential challenges and expected characteristics.

The immersive experience will also see its visitors in an entirely new environment as they are re-introduced to planet Earth, the future of healing, sustainability and bioengineering technology. Reflecting the UAE’s ongoing work in sustainability and environmental stability, this part of the visitors’ journey also highlights the UAE position as one of the first countries to announce its commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, and a homage to the country’s efforts in planning to host the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Abu Dhabi in 2023.

In an environment centred around health, wellbeing and the sense of self, visitors will embark on a peaceful and empowering journey, as light will be shed on reconnecting to human senses and learning to detach from the personal immense use of technology. The Museum of the Future will also showcase novel innovations from the near future through its partnerships with industry-leading companies and organisations to highlight emerging technologies and trends created for the betterment of humanity.

Believing that the future does not have an age preference, this museum will provide children with dedicated experience that encourages their youngest minds to explore and learn several future-proofing skills through an open-world experience, in a step that helps them to innovate, and allows them to create the future they look forward to and to be a pivotal part of its characteristics.

As the new global scientific landmark and a beacon of knowledge, the Museum of the Future will become the headquarter to the ‘Great Arab Minds’ initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in search for 1,000 great Arab minds.