UAE: UNEP partners with 8 universities to collect…

The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with eight major UAE universities to enhance and explore bilateral scientific research opportunities.

These universities are Abu Dhabi University, Al Ain University, American University of Sharjah, Khalifa University, New York University Abu Dhabi, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, UAE University and Zayed University, EAD plans to cooperate with other research institutions in the future .

These agreements serve as a framework for cooperation in the field of scientific research with the aim of bridging knowledge gaps. All entities recognize the mutual benefits of collaboration and have established basic terms and conditions to enable rapid development of research projects.

These agreements will allow partner universities to bring their faculty expertise, specialized research resources and innovations to help bridge scientific knowledge gaps and support EAD’s operations. This will strengthen EAD’s position as an innovation and science-driven organization and will act as a catalyst for the achievement of Abu Dhabi’s environmental and sustainable development goals.

Ahmed Baharoon, Executive Director, Environmental Information, EAD Science Extension Management, said: “Abu Dhabi’s visionary leadership has always placed great emphasis on and invested in education and scientific research. Over the past few decades, the UAE’s research capabilities have grown enormously. development, so this institutional-level agreement between these eight universities and the EAD will provide researchers with rich opportunities for collaboration. Universities are home to faculty members who are deep subject experts with highly specialized research laboratories and equipment.”

He added: “Since its inception, the EAD has been a science-driven institution. It is vital that the laws, policies, programs and strategic recommendations, as well as the education programs and reports that the EAD develops, are based on robust, reliable science. As a result, the agency has placed a strategic focus on enhancing environmental research and development, and the signing of these eight MoUs will provide that.”

He elaborates: “We also maintain a register of environmental research needs that will provide these universities with a rich list of potential research projects. We also provide access to decades of environmental monitoring data, reports and research publications, and in-depth expertise. “

The broad expertise of the external research community will enable EAD and its partners to address environmental challenges in a holistic manner, taking into account the complex interactions between soil, water, air, wildlife, social and economic systems.

The MoU will equip individual universities with considerable research capacity to support the emirate’s environmental research needs, while providing universities with a rich source of substantive research questions.

There are exciting research opportunities across all of EAD’s major strategic priorities, including: climate change, habitat conservation, groundwater and marine water, fisheries and air quality. Policy formulation and optimization of social, economic and environmental requirements also provide rich areas of research. The results of the collaborative research will be published in scientific literature, reports and journals.