Winners of the Arab Scientific Community Organisation (ARSCO) award for 2020 were honoured at a ceremony yesterday at Sheraton Doha.
This is the first edition of the awards and has been devoted to environment protection this year, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the ARSCO.
Oman’s Ministry of Agricultural, Fisheries and Water Resources won first place in the category of institutions for its project Industrial Coral Reefs.
In the individual category, Salah El Sadi from the Gaza Strip in Palestine won first place for his project Treating Drinking Water and Irrigation Using Green Technology.
Representatives of the winning projects received $5,000 each and trophies.
On behalf of ARSCO president Dr Moza bint Mohamed al-Rabban, the awards were presented by Khalid bin Khalifa al-Rabban, member of the Board of the Rabban Foundation for Studies and Research, the main supporter of the ARSCO and the awards.
About 90 projects from 13 Arab countries were submitted to the competition: from individuals and public and private institutions.
“The aim of the award is to encourage innovation in sustainable and successful projects as well as practical solutions to many environmental problems in the Arab region,” said al-Rabban. “The focus is on creative projects and ingenious technologies, and the number of its beneficiaries.
“They include projects concerned with conserving resources, improving air, water and soil quality, treating pollution, in addition to projects focusing on creating awareness in these areas.”
Prof Ahmed Abdala, associate professor in Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University in Qatar and advisory member of the ARSCO, highlighted the awards’ importance, as they aim to foster a culture of environment conservation among the wider public and in the Arab countries.
“The award is an actual application of the organisation’s philosophy and values; it supports projects based on the localisation of science and knowledge, self-reliance and self-confidence in Arab countries, and the adoption of the Arabic language as the language of science and technology,” he noted.
The jury consisted of six professors: committee chairman Prof Dr El-Hadi Ben-Mansour from Tunisia, Dr Asma al-Mohannadi from Qatar, Prof Dr Mohamed Saied Khanbash from Yemen, Prof Dr Aziz Amin from Morocco, Prof Dr Nabila Khallaf from Algeria, and Prof Dr Adel Awad from Syria.
The submitted projects were mainly on agriculture, livestock, marine life, and bees.
Some also focused on environmental cleanliness and pollution reduction as well as water treatment and providing water resources.
There were also projects on energy and green technologies and recycling of all kinds.
The ARSCO is an Arab and Islamic civilisation project that seeks to reconsider science and its practice as an essential part of the nation’s culture and a civilisational dimension to this culture.
The sole supporter and financier of the organisation and all its activities is Doha-based Al-Rabban Foundation for Studies and Research.
A representative of the Oman agriculture ministry receiving the award in the category of institutions.
