Under the theme “Advancing Sustainably as a Core Purpose of Higher Education: Strategies, developments and lessons learnt” took place yesterday the symposiums organized by the Center for Learning Innovations and Customized Knowledge Solutions (CLICKS) in conjunction with the award ceremony celebrating the winners of the 2nd cycle of the Zairi International Awards for Excellence in HE.
The event which brought together higher education leaders, decision makers and other key representatives from more than 30 countries highlighted the crucial role Higher Education plays in addressing some of the most challenging social, economic and environmental global issues within the context of the 2030 agenda and how universities are able to transform themselves through a stakeholders’ approach and contribute to the SDGs in terms of research, engagement with the community, teaching and learning and curricula design, management practices, etc.
A rich program for the day was put in place including a morning practical workshop organized by AdvanceHE in the UK, keynote addresses and three panel discussions. Among speakers were: Dr. Peter J. Wells, Chief Higher Education, UNESCO; Dr. Patrick Paul Walsh, Director of the SDG Academy in Ireland; Prof. Dzulkifli bin Abdul Razak, Rector of the International Islamic University in Malaysia ;Prof. Ghaleb Alhadrami Albreiki, Acting Vice Chancellor at the United Arab Emirates University; Mr. Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer at the Times Higher Education in the UK and among others.
Commenting on the event, Dr Narimane Hadj-Hamou, Founder and CEO of CLICKS and Chair of the Symposium said: “Higher Education Institutions have always played a crucial role in our society, economy and environment and in addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges. Within the context of the 2030 agenda, they are pivotal to the achievement of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs which serve as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all through addressing some of the most pressing global challenges such as: poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice and quality education can help transform and shape the purpose of our universities. This event comes timely with the UAE government’s focus on sustainability after His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, has declared 2023 as the “Year of Sustainability” and where the UAE will be hosting the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).”
In the evening, the symposium attended by HE Prof. Mohamed Yousif Baniyas Director, Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) at the UAE Ministry of Education witnessed the announcements of the winners for the second cycle of the Zairi Intentional Awards for Excellence in Higher Education. Winners to the Award were as follows:
- Award of Excellence for Digital Transformation: International University of Health Sciences, St Kitts and Nevis
- Award of Excellence for Research Impact: National University of Science & Technology, Sultanate of Oman
- Award of Excellence for Internationalization: University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
- Award of Excellence for Outstanding Non- Profit Contribution to the Community: Jointly awarded to Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda
No winners were announced for the two categories on disruptive education and on equity and inclusion for this cycle as the applications submitted did not meet the award criteria.
Within the context of the awards, Dr. Hadj-Hamou said “The Zairi International Awards for Excellence in Higher Education are an annual international recognition honoring higher education institutions that are addressing global educational challenges and are creating impact in their own context through embracing excellence and innovation in specific areas pertinent to digital transformation, research impact, service to the community, internationalization, equity, etc. and in a sustainable manner. The awards named after the late Professor Mohamed Zairi; one of the pioneers in the field of quality and excellence who has passed away in October 2021 to commemorate his name. We congratulate all the winners for this second cycle as well as all the 12 higher education institutions which were shortlisted and look forward to receiving applications from new geographies for the next cycle that will open on the first of May, 2023”.
Sponsors of the Awards and Symposium include: MEDAD and Cengage as Awards’ Gold Sponsors; QAA as a Symposium Silver Sponsor and Coursera, AdvanceHE and WordsmithRapport as Symposium Bronze Sponsors.
Additional details about the symposium along all speaker can be found at: Award Ceremony and Symposium (cli-cks.com)
