Under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, the Future Pioneers Award invites entries from schools, university students, and corporate professionals to showcase their innovative ideas and projects
BEEAH, the region’s sustainability pioneer and digital expert, has launched the latest edition of the Future Pioneers Award (FPA) at BEEAH Headquarters. Open to entrants from around the world, the prestigious award celebrates groundbreaking ideas and projects poised to revolutionise the future of sustainability. Offering a dynamic platform to spotlight trailblazing sustainability ideas that promise to transform communities for the better, the FPA offers financial rewards across award categories for winning entries, enabling visionaries to pursue scaling their emerging innovations for a sustainable future.
Held for the second consecutive year under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of the American University of Sharjah, the Future Pioneers Awards (FPA), formerly known as the Environmental Excellence School Award (EESA), promotes environmental action. Over its decade-long history as EESA, the awards received nearly 3,000 entries from schools across the UAE annually. Building on this foundation, the FPA has expanded its reach to an international audience, inviting participation from school students, university students, and industry professionals whose innovations contribute to local or global sustainability goals.
Welcoming the launch of the FPA, Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO and Vice Chairman of BEEAH, said, “As a leader in sustainability, BEEAH is passionate about inspiring and empowering those who are pioneering innovative solutions to address the world’s most pressing challenges. By spotlighting emerging innovations across sectors to identify and scale solutions, meaningful impacts can be made to tackle climate change and work towards targets. Our aim for the Future Pioneers Award is to celebrate and recognise remarkable achievements of individuals dedicated to forging a brighter, more sustainable future.”
BEEAH recognises the importance of sustainability for the future and hopes to inspire passionate individuals, groups, and organisations that champion sustainability efforts in the shared journey towards a better tomorrow. The FPA aims to celebrate change makers of all generations who play a key role in shaping the future of the planet.
Hind Al Huwaidi, Chief Executive Development Officer at BEEAH, encouraged participation saying, “The Future Pioneers Award champions and amplifies inventive breakthroughs to combat environmental issues. By igniting and celebrating innovation and creativity across entrants from diverse backgrounds both within the UAE and internationally, we aim to give recognition to the innovators driving ambitious, transformative change as we work towards a net-zero future.”
She added, “The FPA is crafted to foster ideas that can deliver tangible solutions to tackle our collective challenges. This year, we encourage entrants to join us once again on this journey.”
While the FPA invite entries across five distinct categories for submissions they share the common theme of innovations in sustainability.
Corporate / Schools
- Sustainability Leadership: For organisations that embed sustainability at the core of its business.
- Sustainability Initiative of the year: For organisations that launched or completed a sustainability initiative or project.
Individual / Groups
- Sustainability Product: For individuals and groups that launched or completed a physical product that contributes to sustainability.
Individual
- Sustainability Hero: For an executive individual within an organisation whose efforts have improved sustainability.
- Sustainability Champion: For non-executive individuals whose efforts contribute to sustainability.
For each category, the top three winners will be selected based on the scores awarded by a carefully selected judging committee, who will assess entries according to the stringent awarding criteria. The deadline for registration of entries is August 31, 2024, with the awards ceremony to take place in February 2025.
In the 2023 edition, 631 applicants applied from around the world and 14 won the Future Pioneers Award. Examples of previous winners include an autonomous indoor air quality robot prototype powered by Lidar technology for high-precision spatial mapping and air quality reporting, and the “SCLEAN” mobile application, enabling users to scan QR codes on recyclables to receive creative ideas on how to repurpose or transform them.
For over a decade, BEEAH has been holding several competitions, awards programs and outreach initiatives to inspire environmental action at the grassroots level, complementing its efforts in pioneering sustainability for organisations and cities. Through the Academy of Sustainability, previously known as the BEEAH School of Environment (BSOE), BEEAH reaches hundreds of schools across the UAE ever year. The Academy of Sustainability also engages with thousands of teachers and helps inculcate environmental education into the curriculum for nearly 300,000 students.
The Future Pioneers Award is BEEAH’s latest program for engaging with academia, corporations and the general public to stimulate climate-positive action. For more information on the awards, judgement criteria and categories, interested individuals are encouraged to:-