Qatar Foundation's Green Island: A year of making a sustainable difference

Green Island – launched by Qatar Foundation in 2024 as a hub for sustainability, recycling, and environmental education will host a series of activations to advance its mission at Qatar Sustainability Week 2025.Located in Education City, Green Island is an innovative space designed to inspire eco-conscious living through hands-on learning and community engagement. It features seven recycling streams, including glass, paper, plastic, aluminum, batteries, cables, and electronics, and offers interactive exhibits on solar energy, hydroponic farming, and construction waste recycling.Green Island is also an edutainment platform and incubator for local green initiatives, empowering visitors to become active change-makers in Qatar’s sustainability journey.Ouassim Alami, strategic initiatives adviser at QF said that the Green Island was designed with Qatar’s educational needs in mind."We wanted to raise awareness about the global environmental urgency, while bringing answers to our visitors about how Qatar is locally addressing the regional climate challenges,” he said. "Our main focus is to educate our community of learners about the clear actions and projects that Qatar is implementing to make its environmental vision a reality. The primary impact we have seen is our ability to reach a continuously growing portion of the community.”Green Island has ongoing collaborations with national entities like Eid Charity, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ehsan, and others who frequently organise field trips for their own audiences.Green Island has a major influence on sustainability awareness in the academic environment. "We are proud to have hosted more than 3,000 students to date, and trained around 250 teachers from both the private and the public sector. Our voice is audible and our method effective,” he noted.According to Alami, the most significant partnership to date is with Qatar Energy. He explained: "Qatar Energy’s Solar Showcase at Green Island tells the story of solar energy in Qatar, and visits always spark endless conversations. Visitors are usually impressed by Qatar’s ambitious solar programme aiming to secure 30% of the nation’s needs. The learning experience itself empowers the visitors with rich content, facts and figures.”The Green Island partnership with Mowasalat and Qatar National Library is of a different nature and a different scale. "We are bringing Qatar National Library’s collection to the public transportation network making it accessible to commuters, taxi drivers, and public transportation workers.The impact of such an initiative is endless – education made easier, time commuting spent smarter, and knowledge shared with a wider portion of our community,” he continued.The official said the Green Island is growing organically. "We currently incubate two SMEs and plan to welcome two new national stakeholders to showcase their mission alongside the already exhibited five stakeholders. Environmental awareness is more than a behavioural change lever – it is a complex global priority that requires critical thinking and strong leadership skills. Our ambition is simple – every school in Qatar should benefit from Green Island and by 2030, every student in Qatar should be Green Island-certified before graduating,” added Alami.