The National Archives and Library organised a virtual seminar titled 'Family and the Making of Creators' as part of its 2026 cultural season, coinciding with the Year of the Family. The event aimed to entrench awareness of the family's role in developing individuals and nurturing their creative capacities, and to affirm the importance of the family environment in discovering talents and raising generations capable of innovation and contributing to the journey of sustainable development.
The seminar shed light on the pivotal role of the family in discovering and developing children's creative abilities, and in promoting educational practices that help build a home environment conducive to creative thinking and innovation — supporting the preparation of a generation equipped with the skills needed to meet the demands of the future and contribute to the nation's renaissance.
The seminar featured participation from Dr Fatima Al Hammadi of the Family Development Foundation, Afaf Al Manhaali of the National Academy for Child Development, and Iman Al Breiki of the National Archives and Library. They reviewed the importance of the family environment in nurturing children's creativity, and the family's role in discovering their talents, honing their abilities, and building their self-confidence, enabling them to excel and innovate across various fields.
The seminar affirmed that building a child's character and developing their potential requires meeting their basic needs — encompassing biological, psychological and emotional, and cognitive needs — as these form the foundation for healthy growth and creative thinking.
It also addressed children's foremost psychological needs, chief among them a sense of reassurance, emotional security, unconditional love, acceptance and respect, autonomy and achievement, encouragement and appreciation, as well as guidance and discipline. The seminar stressed that these elements form an integrated framework that contributes to building a balanced personality, bolsters self-confidence, and fosters the capacity for innovation and creativity.
The seminar underscored the importance of empowering families to adopt effective educational practices that create a home environment encouraging creative thinking, entrench the values of dialogue, and promote initiative and exploration. This contributes to developing talents and producing distinguished generations equipped with the tools of knowledge and innovation, capable of contributing to the realisation of the United Arab Emirates' development aspirations — in alignment with its vision of investing in people and elevating the status of the family as the primary nucleus for building a knowledge society and achieving sustainable development.