Innovative communication at the centre of raising awareness among students
DUBAI, January, 2014: Five environmentally conscious youngsters have taken on the task of reducing energy consumption at the Canadian University Dubai.
The students are promoting energy saving lifestyles amongst the student and faculty bodies with the aim of reducing water and electricity use on campus this semester.
The scheme is part of the Conservation Award set up nine years ago by the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) as part of its strategic initiative to combat climate change. The Award is presented to academic institutions in Dubai for best practices in electricity and water consumption and usage.
Run in partnership with the Knowledge & Human Development Authority, the award aims to "promote and instill a culture of conservation amongst the learning community in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities and special needs centres'.
To improve the university's green credentials, the students have to convince the rest of the students, staff and faculty to get on board.
Key energy-saving messages have been designed by the five students who have developed new and fun ways of communicating old messages, such as switching off lights and turning off taps, to encourage good practices in as many people as possible.
"A lot of the advice on how to save energy has been heard before, so it's how you put those messages out there that makes an impact," said Shabbir Furniturewala, a student in the School of Communications. "We have been creating a number of videos because they are interactive and we know that students will take the time to watch them. They can also share them across social media, spreading the word amongst the student body and the wider community.
"We took the decision to keep them light and funny," he added. "Most environmental messages leave you feeling depressed. That won't help sharing and liking amongst the students as much as a light-hearted approach." The students used black and white silent movies as inspiration for a video dedicated to switching off lights. The video can be found on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/D40Guhh1P4o
The Art School has also be drafted in to the marketing drive, designing pop-art posters that communicate a key energy saving messages that raise awareness and call people to action.
"I am aiming to convince as many students as possible to make a positive change in their life and make a difference to the environment," said Environmental and Health Sciences student, Aliyah Salim.
"The DEWA Competition is great for raising awareness of what we can all do to make a difference to the environment and the eve the small things matter. However, we are not treating this like a competition. For some of us this is a life long commitment, not only to live as 'green' as we can, but to convince other people to do the same."
Guiding the team of students is university lecturer Ryan Sisson, who said: "It has been immensely gratifying to see the students working together and coming up with great ideas.
"The five students leading the campaign have done a great job of spreading the message through to the rest of the student body, through both messaging and the ongoing engagement of their peers in creative activities."
The last day for applications for the DEWA Conservation Award is April 14th 2014, with the winners announced at a special ceremony later in the year.
For more information visit: http://www.dewa.gov.ae/community/conservation/consawardintro.aspx
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