Among the 60 cities that competed to win the prestigious educational award, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), announced that the Qatari city of Al-Wakra won the “UNESCO Award for Learning Cities for the year 2021”, among 10 cities around the world. the world for its outstanding achievements in the field of lifelong learning.
Al Wakrah's winning of this prestigious international award came due to the city's making - according to UNESCO - a priority in its sustainability plan, with a focus on vulnerable groups in society.
Al Wakra Municipality succeeded in integrating all the living and educational sectors, as well as the governmental and private sectors with their geographical scope in the process of transition to sustainability by working on teaching school students the foundations and principles of green buildings and their application in scientific life, which ensured that they were nominated by the Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture and Science to join the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities .
"Congratulations to Al-Wakra on winning the 2021 UNESCO Learning Cities Prize for outstanding progress in lifelong learning," the UNESCO Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council and Yemen said on its Twitter account.
Al Wakra City’s file for winning the award included the city’s municipality’s strategy and medium and long-term plan developed by the municipality in order to serve the 17 sustainable development goals and to accelerate Qatar Vision 2030.
Congratulations to Al Wakra on winning the UNESCO Education City Award 2021 for outstanding progress in lifelong learning 🎉.
The city has made lifelong learning a priority as part of its sustainability plan, with a focus on vulnerable groups.
#lifelonglearning
👉🏽 https://t.co/wZJceevCwA@UNESCO_GCCYemen pic.twitter.com/0FhQg8Ul9S
— UNESCO Gulf States & Yemen (@UNESCO_GCCYemen) October 27, 2021
Suha Mahmoud believes that the municipality has benefited from global indicators and advanced centers in the quality of education in Qatar globally, and made use of the fourth goal of the sustainable development goals, which is quality education to support the 11th goal, which is building sustainable societies, and it involved all Government and private sectors in the process of transition to sustainability in all its aspects.
Reasons to win
She considered that the reasons for the city's winning of this award also came thanks to the efforts made by all schools within the city, in addition to the national campaigns for the Sustainability Week, which is held annually in the municipality in cooperation with the Qatar Green Building Council, and in line with Qatar Vision 2030.
Engineer Suha Mahmoud confirmed that the municipality was able to shift from stereotyping to sustainability within 6 years of continuous work, noting that the municipality began lighting Al Wakra Beach for families with solar energy, so that this project would be an educational and basic platform to raise awareness of the importance of using renewable energy, and finally with the practical application of citizens' use of alternative energy.
Learning cities are brimming with new ideas to get people to learn (UNESCO)
She added that the municipality has also succeeded in improving access to lifelong education through local and international festivals and competitions, pointing out that Al-Wakra's success in providing lifelong education stems from the state's strategy in providing educational opportunities for all.
Distinguished legislative environment
The Sustainability Officer and UNESCO File in Al-Wakra Municipality stated that the municipality benefited from the distinguished legislative and social environment of the State of Qatar, in addition to seriousness in the field of education, security and sports, and the state provided a sound environment to promote the principles of sustainable development and sustainable cities. education.
She explained that Al-Wakra Municipality - in its file submitted to UNESCO - highlighted the efforts made by the municipality to involve the elderly and marginalized groups in the sustainable development process and to involve the younger generation in developing solutions to environmental problems and preserving them from pollution and carbon emissions.
It is noteworthy that the cities that won the UNESCO Learning Cities Award 2021 are Al Wakra (Qatar), Jubail Industrial City (Saudi Arabia), Damietta (Egypt), Belfast (United Kingdom), Ferran (France), Dublin (Ireland) and Huyotzingo (Mexico). ), Osan (Korea), Shanghai (China), and Wyndham (Australia).