The Flag Island Sheds Light on ‘Eco Innovation’ in the UAE Innovation Month

In line with the on-going UAE Innovation Month, an event that is celebrating inventiveness and creativity across the seven emirates throughout February, The Flag Island in Sharjah has announced a weeklong activation, ‘Island of Science’, that is being held from February 15-21 at the destination – home to one of the tallest flag poles in the UAE and the world.

At the heart of a series of curated workshops and exhibitions is the concept of ‘environmental innovation’. Through these activations, the significant concepts of environmental technology, eco-efficiency, environmental design, recycling and upcycling, and sustainable design innovation will be made familiar to participants and visitors who will learn how to save and preserve the environment using new, innovative techniques, and turn the same into concerted community action.

“In the 21st century, innovation is an essential prerequisite of development. In 2015, the UAE nationalised its goal for innovation with the launch of the ‘Year of Innovation’, and since we have been fuelling this momentum towards reaching our goal of becoming one of the most innovative nations by 2021. The environment is the protective fabric under which the earth and all its diversity thrive. It is one sector that is desperate need for innovation, and the kind that will be most effective if generated on a large scale at the grassroots by community actors and innovators,” said Kholoud Al Junaibi, Manager of Flag Island.

The Flag Island management is collaborating with several government institutions, universities and individuals to deliver a specially curated series of activities. The collaborators include University of Sharjah, The Sharjah Environment Company (Bee’ah), the Emirates Environmental Technology Co. (EET).    

These entities will be conducting interesting children’s workshops from Feb 15-18. On Feb 17, Bee’ah will host a ‘Recycle & Upcycle Art workshop’ from 4-6pm, and on Feb 18, EET will conduct one titled ‘Innovative Conversion of Organic Waste into Sustainable Soil’ from 11am-12pm.

“We have ensured a good mix of activities to appeal to all age groups. While the younger audience will enjoy art workshops based on concepts of recycling and upcycling, waste designing games, try a hand at building a 3D printed playground made entirely from plastic waste, adults could extract inspirations from the surrounding environment into 2D drawing or enjoy a line-up of exhibitions showcasing themes of sustainable and eco design, ecovation, etcetera, until February 21,” Al Junaibi noted.

The exhibitions at ‘Island of Science’ are unconventional curations representing themes like, ‘Design Inspirations through Sustainable Courtyard Furniture’, ‘Eco-Design and Environmental Technology’, ‘Ecovation through Conversion of Organic Waste into Sustainable Soil’, ‘Sustainable Design’, and a display from 1971 Design Space ‘Exhibition ZERO’ which is initiated in 2015.

The workshops and other activities will be held from 15-18 February. The exhibitions are open for public viewing until next Wednesday, February 21.

The UAE Innovation Month, previously known as the UAE Innovation Week, is the largest celebration of its kind that seeks to celebrate the best in ideas on innovation from the spectrum of government and private sectors, as well as from the public. The month-long event celebrates innovation with over 1,000 activities to be organised across all seven emirates and will see the latest innovations being shared in different sectors, along with the launch of a number of leading initiatives that will back innovation in the UAE. The UAE Innovation Month and its activities have also been linked to the Year of Zayed and will highlight the role of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan as an innovator.