Earth Day to celebrate Qatar sustainability ideas

The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development  will host the Qatar Environmental Education Fair to celebrate Earth Day on April 22. "For the first time, a wide array of stakeholders, who are working on all kinds of diverse projects related to sustainability, will be able to gather in one place to showcase their efforts and network with one another," said Christopher Silva, the foundation's coordinator. Throughout the fair, various organisations will present environmentally-friendly ideas for implementation in the fields of education, research and business. Adopting such ideas will play a critical role in Qatar's shift to a more sustainable society, the foundation said in a statement. "I really hope this becomes an annual event, and that we can infuse these types of sustainability efforts into different universities and academic programmes across Qatar," Silva said. Fair attendees will mainly be students and teachers from universities, including Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMU-Q), and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCU-Q). Members from Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) and Qatar Solar Technologies have also registered. "VCU-Q students will be able to present some of their artwork pertaining to sustainability, including multiple sculptures designed to draw attention to the incredibly high intake of plastic water bottle consumption across Qatar," said Blair Aboutaleb, a Student Activities Officer in the Student Affairs Department at VCU-Q. "The Environmental Education Fair will be an essential event for Qatar Foundation and for the country."