TEDxAbuDhabiU

Rick Van Sant the Faculty Development Director at Abu Dhabi University joins me for a conversation about TEDxAbuDhabiU that is coming April 23. I then talk about my favorite TED Talk to date.

Rick Van Sant on Developing the Core of a University, the faculty.

Dr. Rick Van Sant is the Directory of the Center for Faculty Development at Abu Dhabi University, http://www.adu.ac.ae/, and he joins me to talk about the change that is taking place in and around the Ivory Tower.

Abu Dhabi Fight Championship

Soheil Nemri joins us for a quick conversation about what will be happening on May 14th!

www.abudhabifc.com

Prepare for a Battle unlike any you’ve ever seen before.

The Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship™ will be the first ever Open-Weight Mixed Martial Arts Championship in the region.

International Fighting Champions are coming to Abu Dhabi to compete for the ADFC™ Title and Grand Prix, while up and coming Local Fighters will battle their way to the top ranks of the Championship.

Entrereneurship

On the heels of the Abu Dhabi Entrepreneurship Forum 3 speakers join me in conversation.

1. Azza Al Qubaisi, One of the UAE's first contemporary jewellers, founder and owner of Arjmst
2. Khalid Saiddudin, CEO, Elixir BUsiness Research and Partner, Raynuma Consulting
3. James Graham, General Manager, Aim Events, Abu Dhabi University Events Management Arm

ZU Students Organize Football Tournament

Hemian Al Meraiki joined me to talk about how she managed to organize a GCC women's only university student tournament.

Alternative Energy

Yonas Michael joined me for a conversation about his electricity generator invention. 050-567-3233

UAE Community Farming Option

Ben Daniels and Shiva Daniels Mouhedi joined me in studio for a conversation about sustainable organic community farming in the UAE.

What a great idea!

Here is the brief.


Sustainable Community Farming.
Mission: Reconnect our society with their food supply chain. A Green Centre for sustainability to encourage active engagement from the community, creating an engaging relationship between the community and nature.
Goal: Create a matrix ecosystem of sustainability both horizontally between organisms and vertically between human social entities.
Vision. A sustainable food supply chain in harmony with nature and in line with human progress and replicable business models.


Concept:

• Based on layered ecosystems. Foundation of the community overlayed by the commercial sector feeding back into key CSR messaging to the community around understanding sustainability, impact to the environment and personal responsibility and ultimately the understanding of their relationship to the environment. Therefore the majority of the infrastructure costs will be donated by companies that have profited greatly from the economy and now have an opportunity to give back.
• Each school will use the allotment for educational purposes reconnecting the students with their food supply chain. Central to the project is for schools to include the allotment as a elective subject with one to two hours per week dedicated.
• 230 Schools in Dubai.
• 50% for schools and 50% for residents.
• 200 m2 per residential plot. 200m2 = .02 hectares. Total 5 hectares.
• 400 m2 per school plot. 400m2 = .04 hectares. Total 10 Hectares.
• Allocate 15 hectares to a walled Community Farming Centre. Ideally it needs to be located close to the population, not out in the sticks. Close to the population and the security fence a massive billboard illustrating Dubai’s focus on sustainability.
• Sub-divide the land to plots, similar to the UK allotment system.
• Members of the community then can secure an allotment for a small fee. The fee would be used toward building/maintaining the facilities/running costs.
• The members can plant any form of vegetables they like and sell them in the community market.
• Local Organic Market.
• Proceeds can be donated to eco projects to build up eco dollars.
• Excess of local market sold through partners such as the Organic Food Café.
• Carbon Trading Scheme on DFC including partnership program for sustainability. E.g. enterprises participating in brotherhood sustainability programs can trade carbon credits.
• All produce would be organic using the bio dynamic approach.
• Engagement from Local Universities for experimentation, knowledge transfer, local schools, UAE Environmental Agencies, sustainability groups etc..
• Create a model for sustainable farming in the Middle East that can be replicated through the region and reduce the carbon footprint of ME countries.
• By reconnecting the community with their food supply chain, we create the consumers of organic and sustainable produce, creating the customers of the organic farmers, hence not competing with them.
• By engaging school children early, we create awareness that negates the causes of the current diabetes epidemic.
• Tap social media to create a vibrant online community fostering discussion, knowledge sharing, competition between schools and community members for the most green contributions/eco dollars etc..
• Create facebook “farmville” like application to foster competition and engagement but with the farms being the real allotments.

TASMENA and MENAlab

www.TASMENA.org

Sponsored by:
Dubai Culture
Emirates Foundation
Zayed University
Dubai Festival City

Yunsun chung-Shin, Nasreen Al Tamimi and Ramsey Jaber joined me in studio for a conversation about TASMENA and the MENAlab!

07.01.2009

TASMENA is a newly initiated interdisciplinary design institute, which starts from the premise of participation, exploration, research and conceptualization in all areas of design. TASMENA is a nonprofit organization committed to innovative positions in various design disciplines such as art, graphic, film, photography and architecture. Through a series of exhibitions, talks, film screenings, conferences and publications we intend to generate dialogue and collaboration across disciplines and international boundaries. As a public forum for emerging voices, TASMENA explores issues in all design fields to built upon a critical dialouge and empower local communities in the Middle East and North Africa region with an understanding of design in their daily lives.

TASMENA IS A SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO CONNECT, DISCUSS, COLLABORATE, LEARN AND CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY THROUGH DESIGN.

TASMENA | Believes every choice we make is a design decision. | Aspires to give every person in the community an equal opportunity to be a designer. | Facilitates talks and actions to bring out design solutions within us.