Dubai Municipality, in partnership with the Dubai Youth Council, has launched the Sustainability Leaders Lab during an interactive workshop organised by the municipality. The lab forms an innovative platform that allows young people to transform their ideas into urban projects and initiatives in partnership with the department, participating in designing solutions, developing selected projects, leading them, and overseeing their implementation — reinforcing their role as active partners in shaping the city's future.
The launch of the lab comes within the municipality's commitment to embedding participatory design, stimulating urban and social innovation, and empowering young people to contribute practical and sustainable solutions to urban and environmental challenges.
The lab was launched in the presence of His Excellency Dr Sultan bin Saif Al Neyadi, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and His Excellency Engineer Marwan Ahmed bin Ghulaita, Director General of Dubai Municipality.
Also present were Her Excellency Aisha Abdullah Miran, Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai, as well as Abdullah Ali bin Zayed Al Falasi, Director General of the Dubai Government Human Resources Department.
Khalid Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Director of the Federal Youth Authority, along with a number of leaders, officials, and participating youth, were also in attendance, underscoring the importance of enhancing youth participation in shaping development projects and advancing initiatives that support quality of life in Dubai.
The event saw His Excellency Dr Sultan bin Saif Al Neyadi approve the first youth space to be dedicated within public parks under Dubai Municipality, as part of the "Work from the Park" initiative at Al Barsha Lake Park. The space will serve as an interactive platform bringing together youth, leaders, and experts, providing a practical environment for developing ideas and transforming them into implementable projects in partnership with Dubai Municipality.
This space will also serve as the headquarters for the lab's meetings and activities, enhancing dialogue and participatory design, and supporting the development of innovative urban initiatives that contribute to raising quality of life in Dubai.
His Excellency Dr Sultan bin Saif Al Neyadi said: "The United Arab Emirates continues its approach of empowering youth by developing an integrated ecosystem that supports their aspirations, provides an environment that offers them opportunities for learning and experimentation, and opens broader pathways for their participation in shaping solutions and creating opportunities — stemming from a firm belief that investing in the energy of youth is a fundamental pillar of a more competitive and sustainable future."
He added: "The launch of the Sustainability Leaders Lab embodies a practical model for partnership with youth by enabling them to transform their ideas into implementable projects in partnership with Dubai Municipality.
The approval of the first youth space also reflects an orientation towards providing stimulating environments that nurture creativity, support participatory design, and grant youth an active role in developing solutions that contribute to the city's future." For his part, His Excellency Engineer Marwan Ahmed bin Ghulaita, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said:
"Youth represent the driving force of the development journey and the making of the future, and Dubai Municipality believes that involving them in designing urban solutions and projects enhances the city's readiness for future requirements and creates a sustainable developmental impact."
He added: "The Sustainability Leaders Lab represents a real opportunity to develop young people's ideas and transform them into practical projects that they lead in implementation in partnership with Dubai Municipality, enhancing the city's readiness for the future."
He pointed to the approval of the first youth space within public parks under the "Work from the Park" initiative at Al Barsha Lake Park, reflecting the municipality's orientation towards developing urban spaces that empower youth to be creative, interact, and produce initiatives with tangible impact.
The lab included interactive brainstorming sessions during which participants were divided into working teams that addressed a number of urban challenges and projects, under the supervision of youth leaders from Dubai Municipality, with preliminary models of applicable ideas developed in a participatory environment.
For her part, Reem Al Falasi, President of the Dubai Youth Council, said that what distinguishes Dubai is that it is a city of action, where ideas are transformed into real-world achievements, affirming that the Sustainability Leaders Lab represents the beginning of a practical pathway to empower youth to transform their ideas into projects implemented in partnership with Dubai Municipality, enhancing the city's sustainability.
Fatima Afghan, President of the Dubai Municipality Youth Council, said that the Sustainability Leaders Lab embodies the municipality's vision of empowering youth as partners in developing the city, through an interactive platform that allows them to develop ideas and lead them through to implementation in partnership with the municipality, reinforcing their role in shaping the future.
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- Approval of the first youth space dedicated within Dubai Municipality's public parks