Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) will host the Qatar Sustainability Week (QSW 2020) from October 31 to November 7 with a number of activities. QGBC has added a new feature to QSW 2020 to create a movement for change. The council will encourage individuals and corporates to match power and passion with action to make a difference by pledging their action for a better tomorrow.
The details of the programme line-up and the new feature of the fifth edition of Qatar Sustainability Week were announced at a virtual press conference yesterday. “We have come up with innovative and attractive initiatives and activities for the event participants that comply with health and social distancing requirements due to Covid-19 pandemic affecting the whole world. Year after year, we hope to make a big step towards fostering sustainability culture in Qatar and the region,” said Meshal al-Shamari, director, QGBC while opening the press conference.
Al-Shamari was joined in the press conference by Shireen Obeidat, events & marketing specialist, QGBC; Hamoda Youssef, head of technical affairs, QGBC; and Abdulrahman al-Muftah, sustainability and environment specialist, representing the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), a Strategic Partner of QSW 2020.
QSW 2020 will highlight Qatar’s contributions and progress towards the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by showcasing the innovative and practical solutions of various stakeholders to the environmental challenges facing Qatar and the region. It will also provide Qatar’s community with the opportunity to learn about sustainable lifestyles and the tools available to help them adopt a more sustainable way of living.
Al-Shamari explained: “We believe that the success of Qatar Sustainability Week cannot be achieved without the private and public sectors that support our mission. These partnerships are very important to let us define solutions to challenges in different sectors in Qatar and the region.”
He also described some of the different activities taking place during this year’s QSW, which include waste recycling campaigns, sustainability awareness programmes in schools, offices, parks, and beaches, cleaning campaign in the sand dunes, tree planting, and awareness programmes on healthy food and lifestyle, UN SDGs.
In addition, he extended an open invitation to register for QSW’s Focus Days.
During the event, QGBC will host two Focus Days, a series of conferences where important discussions about sustainable strategies and practices will take place. The first conference, themed ‘Green Hospitality for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022’, will take place on November 1 and will highlight the ongoing efforts among the local stakeholders in promoting a greener hospitality sector in Qatar and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as a legacy driver for the sector.
QGBC is partnering with the SC and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC to guide FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022-related hospitality establishments and event management operators in implementing sustainable operation practices. The first Focus Day will include a workshop with representatives from Green Key International and the hospitality sector in Qatar to present an overview of Green Key certification, best practices, and case studies from Qatar.
The second Focus Day on November 5 will announce the regional launch of the World Green Building Council’s Health and Wellbeing Framework in the Mena region, and tackle the challenge of how to best accelerate a sustainable built environment by proving its benefits to people’s health and well-being. The conference will identify important stakeholders from different industries and sectors that could generate large-scale change towards creating better environments for people.
Throughout the week, QGBC, a member of Qatar Foundation, and partners will hold a number of events and activities promoting sustainability and sustainable practices and highlighting the efforts undertaken by the organisations to ensure action by people in Qatar for a better tomorrow.
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