Can Bitcoin Go Green One Day?

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Many people who love to live off-grid or practice being self sufficient love the premise of cryptocurrency. It is perfectly aligned with the ethos of those who wish to unplug from the mainstream and do things their own way. Since cryptocurrency is decentralized and has no governing authority it seems like it should be a perfect fit for these types of people.

Unfortunately, there is one glaring area which makes bitcoin and other cryptocurrency an anathema to those off-grid lifestylers. The price of Bitcoin is the key driver behind the environmental impact of the mining network. The mining of cryptocurrency is a huge user of energy which relies mainly on fossil fuels. In fact, the Bitcoin network can consume several times more electrical energy than many countries.

The problem is the servers that do the computing whenever you buy Bitcoins that require a lot of electricity to operate. And since the currency has become more mainstream than ever, there are acres of servers in each site required to keep up with the demand.

bitcoin-renewable-energy

Can this ever change and bitcoin become green one day so those that care about the environment will be able to buy bitcoin? In this article, I will go over some of the ways that bitcoin can become greener and less of a power hog.

1. Solar power

One of the most obvious ways for bitcoin to go green is to stop using fossil fuels and switch to solar to power the servers responsible for mining the cryptocurrency.

The problem with solar power is that it has to be very consistent and in the area where the servers are. Unfortunately, the places where these servers could work with solar are quite expensive. For instance, California would be ideal since they often have periods of negative priced power. This is when there is more power being created than there is demand.

Negative pricing would be the perfect scenario for those servers since it would be a dramatically lower cost than even the cheapest fossil fuels. The issue is that the solar farm would need to be really big and land in California is very expensive. As are the other operating costs.

What could make sense is to move some of the solar farms to areas in developing countries where there is plenty of sunlight. This would help their local economy and also make sure that bitcoin mining via solar is viable.

2. Geothermal Energy

Iceland has attracted many of these server mining operations since it is an area rich with geothermal energy capabilities. Its proximity to volcanic activities gives it free energy 24 hours per day 365 days per year.

Another benefit is the cool climate makes it cheap and easy to cool the servers which get very hot.

And Iceland isn’t the only place where this is available. There are volcanic areas all over the world that offer the same capabilities.

3. Hydropower

Hydroelectric generation is another power source that operates all day every day without pause. And luckily, there are many countries that offer cheap land that can be built upon to take advantage for mining operations.

With the high price of bitcoin right now, it is a good time to invest in these technologies since miners will still make money and move towards a green cryptocurrency.

Recycling of Aluminium: Trends in Middle East

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The demand for aluminium products is growing steadily in the Middle East because of their positive contribution to modern living. Aluminium finds extensive use almost all walks of life including transport, food and medicine, packaging, construction, electronics and electrical power transmission. Infact, the use of aluminum exceeds that of any other metal except iron. Aluminium is the second most widely used metal whereas the aluminium can is the most recycled consumer product in the world.

Aluminium_Recycling

Recycling Potential of Aluminium

Disposal of aluminium wastes is a challenging task as aluminium exposed to fires at dumpsites can be a serious environmental problem in the form of poisonous gases and mosquito breeding. Recycled aluminium can be utilized for almost all applications, and can preserve raw materials and reduce toxic emissions, apart from significant energy conservation.

Aluminum has a high market value and continues to provide an economic incentive to recycle it. The excellent recyclability of aluminium, together with its high scrap value and the low energy needs during recycling make aluminium lightweight solutions highly desirable.

The contribution of the recycled metal to the global output of aluminium products has increased from 17 percent in 1960 to 34 percent today, and risen to almost 40 percent by 2020. Global aluminium recycling rates are high, with approximately 90 per cent of the metal used for transport and construction applications recovered, and over 60 per cent of used beverage cans are collected.

Benefits of Aluminium Recycling

Aluminium does not degrade during the recycling process, since its atomic structure is not altered during melting. Aluminium recycling is both economically and environmentally effective, as it requires a lot less energy to recycle than it does to mine, extract and smelt aluminium ore.

aluminium-cans-recycling

 

Recycled aluminium requires only 5% of the energy used to make primary aluminium, and can have the same properties as the parent metal. However, in the course of multiple recycling, more and more alloying elements are introduced into the metal cycle. This effect is put to good use in the production of casting alloys, which generally need these elements to attain the desired alloy properties.

The industry has a long tradition of collecting and recycling used aluminium products. Over the years, USA and European countries have developed robust separate collection systems for aluminium packaging with a good degree of success. Recycled aluminium can made into aircraft, automobiles, bicycles, boats, computers, cookware, gutters, siding, wire and cans.

Aluminium Recycling in Middle East

Middle East is responsible for generation of huge amount of aluminium wastes each year. The enormity of the problem can be gauged from the fact more than 500 million beverage cans are used in UAE alone, out of which only 5% is recycled while the rest goes to scrap dealers or landfills.

Middle East has a very strong aluminium industry which could benefit a lot from aluminium recycling initiatives. Recycling of aluminium is a long-term viable option for the region as it reduces the need for raw materials and use of valuable fossil fuels.

معلومات مضللة عن تغير المناخ

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منذ أجيال وصناعات النفط والفحم وكبار عملائهم يدبّرون حملةً معقدةً ذات نجاحٍ هائل، كلّفت ملايين الدولارات،هدفها إقناع العامة أن تغيّر المناخ ليس خطراً حقيقيّ. الدافع وراء حملة المعلومات الخاطئة عن تغيّر المناخ هو حماية أرباح تلك الشركات عبر سحق أي تصرف يؤدي إلى خفض انبعاثات ثاني أكسيد الكربون وغيرها من الغازات المضرة للبيئة التي تنتج في عملية حرق الوقود الاحفوري.

السياسات مثل ضريبة الكربون وحد الكربون مصمّمين من أجل حد إطلاق غاز ثاني أكسيد الكربون عبر تقليل طلب الوقود الاحفوري. لكن شركات القود الاحفوري يعلمون أن نقص إستهلاك الوقود سوف يُقَلِّص من أرباحهِم، ويدمر قيمة احتياطاتهم من النفط والفحم والغاز الطبيعي، التي تقدر بتريليونات الدولارات.

climate-change-disinformation

القادة في مجال الوقود الاحفوري قد عَلِموا منذ زمن طويل أن مع تطور السياسات التي تهاجم حرق الوقودالاحفوري وتغيّر المناخ، وتحولها إلى تشريعا وقوانين، ستتأثر أرباحهم. استباقًا لهذه التهديدات لدخلهم، كبار شركات الوقود الاحفوري — والذين يشاركونهم في مصالحهم — طرحوا حملةً ممولة بالكامل لقمع علم المناخ. علِمَ مُهَنّدِسيها أن هذه الحملة، إن نجحت، سوف توفر أساساً منطقي يمهّد لعرقلتهم السياسية والقانونية لأي مبادرات سياسية تحمي البيئة.

فوق انها خدمت وتستمر في خدمة أغراض سياسية واقتصادية للصناعات التي اختلقتها، هي أيضاً تؤدي غرضاً سيكولوجياً، وهو رسم صورة كاذبة لعلم المناخ واقتصاد المناخ واقتصاد حماية المناخ تدعم أن مصالح شركات الوقو  الاحفوري الاقتصادية هي مصالح نبيلة، لكي يجعلون من يرفض علم المناخ يظن أنه “في جانب الملائكة”.

في الساحة السياسية، حملة شركات الوقود لم تنجح في تشويش حقائق تغيّر المناخ فحسب، بل استطاعت أن تمنع مشاركة الولايات المتحدة الامريكيه في بروتوكول كيوتو عام ١٩٩٧، وهي معاهدة عالمية لحماية المناخ لم يسبق مثلها، وسيتم ذكرها بكثرة في هذا الكتاب.

المعارضة الصناعية ضد علم المناخ والسياسات الصديقة المناخ قد اصبحت اكثر تعقيداً وتنوعاً في الجي  الماضي. الحملة تعمل عبر عشرات المعاه الممولة من قبل شركات الوقود الاحفوري ومراكز السياسة ولجان  ومؤسسات بحثية ومجتمعات يتحدثون عن المناخ والطاقة باسم تلك الشركات.  متشككين المناخ” هو اللقب المفضل لهم، ومن ضمنهم محافظون ضد الحكومة وضد التنظيم والليبرتاريّون الذين يعارضون الحكومة لأسبابٍ أيديولوجية. هذه الاستراتيجية تم استخدامها عادةً لإخفاء الاوصاف المزيفة لعلم المناخ المؤسسة أيديولوجياً تحت قناع العلم.

لكن مراجعة المنشورات العلمية عن المناخ تكشف أنه توجد الاف الأبحاث العلمية الموثقة وذات جودة عالية توثق جميع مراحل تغيّر المناخ، ولاتوجد إا أبحاث معدودة معارضة لدلائل تغيّر المناخ. غير ذلك، نرى ان نتائج أبحاث علم المناخ التي تؤكد على حقيقة تغيّر المناخ ودور الانسانية فيها توجدي أعلى المجلات العلمية هيبةً ومكانة.

تقريباً دون استثناء، تقارير المستنكرون توجد في منشورات غير موثوقة؛ حيث أن اعتراضاتهم لعلم المناخ تم تفنيدها مراراً وتكرارًا، لذلك هم لا يجذبو انتباه المنشورات العلمية المحترمة. وأخيراً، الأكاديميات الوطنية للعلوم في معظم الأمم قد استنتجوا أننا نجعل الكوكب أكثر حرارةً.

climate-change-impacts

في مراحل نقاش المناخ الأولية، المنظمات الوكيلة لشركات الوقود الاحفوري ناقضت علم المناخ بشكلٍ قاطع وادعت أن الكوكب يزيد برداً و أنه حتماً لا يزيد حرارة، ولو كانت تزيد حرارةً ذلك ليس ناتج عن نشاطات الإنسان، وسوف تكون زيادة الحرارة قليلة ومفيدة. كثير من هذه الادعاءات الكاذبة  مت هجرتها من قبل الجميع إلا أشد معارضيّ علم المناخ، حيث أن الرأي العلمي العالمي المجمع زاد قوةً مع الظهور المستمر لأدلة تثبت أن الاحترارالعالمي مشكلة يجب معالجتها. ولكن بعض منكرو تغيّر المناخ مستمرون في تقديم حجج باطلة.

على سبيل المثال، نُقّاد سياسات معالجة تغيّر المناخ الصناعيين(مثل الجمعية الوطنية للمصنعين في الولايات المتحدة) رفعوا قضية عند الكونغرس أن التدابير التي تقلل انبعاثات الكربون سوف تسبب تدهوراً اقتصاديّ فيصورة ضرائب عالية ووظائف مفقودة وقلة تنافسية الولايات المتحدة في الأسواق  لعالمية.

ولأن حججهم لم تكسب زخماً في المجال العلمي، مراكز الفكر الممولة من قبل صناعة الوقود الاحفوري حاولت أنتعرض قضيتهم ضد علم المناخ للساذ ين من الصحافة والسياسيين والقادة والطلبة والعامة. اليوم نرى أن مشككو المناخ وحلفائهم لديهم وجود واسع في الإنترنت والراديو والتلفاز وأيضا المحلات والكتب الممولة من قبل صناعات الوقود الاحفوري.

إن فتح أي شخص عادي الإنترنت وبحث عن تغيّر المناخ سوف يواجه ضغط شديد يدفعه إلى تكذيب الحق في بحرٍ من المعلومات المخادعة التي تنش ها هذه المنظمات. حيث أن من أكثر الحجج إقناعاً تتكون من تصريحات كاذبة مغلفة بطبقاتٍ من الحق، فيصبح الأمر صعباً على من لم يمر بتدريب علمي متقدم لكي يفرق الحق منالباطل.

Translated by Wadha Al Hemaidi

Wadha is a 16-year old environmentalist-in-progress. Her main environmental interests fluctuate regularly, but right now it’s food waste and clean energy.  She also debates and weaves tapestries from time to time.

How to Train and Motivate Your Lead Generation Team

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Dreaming about hitting your lead generation goals? Are you searching for effective ways to train a lead generational team? Do you not know how to keep your staff motivated? If you are seeking answers to these questions, this guide has all the necessary information.

Today, we will delve into the core tactics for effectively managing a lead generation team. Additionally, we will explore strategies to enhance your staff motivation, as motivated employees are key to success. So, let’s dive in.

high-performing lead generation team

How to Train Your Lead Generation Team

To achieve your business goals, you need to have a strong and skilled team. To build this kind of team, you can offer them training and opportunities for growth. This will help your staff stay relevant with industry trends and updates, ultimately having a positive impact on your business. Now, let’s explore some simple steps that can assist in providing relevant training to your staff.

1. Understand Your Team’s Skills

To develop suitable training for your team, it’s essential to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Once you have identified areas for improvement, you can provide relevant training to enhance these skills.

For that purpose, you can utilize different methods like surveys, quizzes, feedback sessions, performance reviews, etc. It’s crucial to establish your goals and ensure they align with your team’s objectives. It will help you customize your training and motivation strategy to meet your team’s specific needs and expectations.

2. Provide Comprehensive Training

Once you have a clear understanding about your team’s needs, you can identify which lead generation techniques it needs to improve. There are different options to provide appropriate training. You can use online courses, webinars, workshops, and other similar resources depending on your budget and team’s learning style.

3. Provide Feedback and Coaching

Offering additional training to your team doesn’t mean that they will become jacks of all trades. Ideally, you should provide regular constructive feedback and coaching.

For example, if you see that a team member has areas for improvement in sales, you can offer additional reading materials or share some tips from your own experience. So, if you are good at sales, it is worth sharing SaaS marketing tips to boost sales with your staff. This fosters a culture of knowledge sharing and keeps your employees well-informed.

4. Keep Your Team Updated

To assist your team in staying updated on the latest industry trends and training materials, offer them relevant resources where they can learn about updates.

Moreover, consider sharing inspiring stories and case studies that showcase successful implementations or strategies within your industry. Remember that real-world examples can provide valuable insights and motivate your team to excel in their own work.

5. Technology Training

Ideally, technology training should be an inextricable part of your training program. Typically, lead generation teams use specific tools or software, so it is worthwhile to ensure that they are proficient in employing these tools. Hence, suggesting training on these tools is always a wise choice, thereby boosting the efficiency and productivity of your team.

best marketing tools for your business

Strategies to Keep Your Team Motivated

Let’s move forward and discuss key strategies that will help you keep your lead generation team motivated and satisfied.

Reward Achievements and Celebrate Special Days

Let’s admit that nothing boosts employee motivation more than words of affirmation. Therefore, acknowledge your team’s achievements after successfully finishing projects or tasks.

Additionally, celebrate your team members on special occasions to show that you value them. For example, if one of your female employees is turning 30 and decides to spend her day in the office, make it special for her. To achieve this, consider interesting gifts for women in their 30s, such as a creative gift box set, ornaments, and the like.

Organize Regular Team Meetings

Regular team meetings are pivotal for discussing progress, addressing challenges, and providing updates. When your staff receives consistent feedback and has the opportunity to speak out, it significantly boosts confidence. As a result, they feel more motivated and less stressed.

Provide Flexible Work Arrangements

Flexible work arrangements are no longer a benefit. In other words, gone are the days when remote work didn’t appear to be effective. Today, there are many daily checklist apps that provide flexibility for managers to check the progress of their teams. As a result, everyone can work in a comfortable atmosphere.

This is why many companies today offer their staff the freedom to choose a suitable working format for them, whether it’s on-site, remote, or hybrid. This approach contributes to a healthy work-life balance and can enhance job satisfaction and motivation.

Wrapping Up

The synergy of effective training and well-crafted motivation strategies can form a high-performing lead generation team. We have discussed key steps on how to achieve it. Armed with basic knowledge, you can confidently start empowering your lead generation team to stay at the forefront in a highly competitive landscape.

Microbial Biodiversity and Sustainable Development

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Biodiversity is one of the Earth’s greatest treasures. Microbes despite their small size have a huge impact on our lives, therefore understanding their role in the environment is important to the maintenance of our planet and preserving the diversity of plants and animals. Microorganisms have the largest genetic diversity on Earth; billions of species of bacteria are suspected to exist, however only 1-5% or so species are characterized.

Microorganisms, being the pioneer colonizers of this planet and the masters of the biosphere as they considered by some, they are ubiquitous, can exist in most inhospitable habitats with extreme temperature, pH, water and salt stress.

microbial-biodiversity

Microbes and Soil Sustainability

Soil ecosystems are highly complex and dynamic having an extremely varied biota comprising plants, animals and microbes. Soil is a highly heterogeneous matrix and is a habitat of an extremely diverse community of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, archaea, protozoa, and algae. The soil microbiota is the ‘biological engine of the earth’ necessary for sustaining vital ecosystem processes and maintaining soil functions. Microbes play a fundamental role in a wide range of soil ecological processes, energy flows, degradation of toxic materials, and thus are a key player in climate change mitigation.

Soil microorganisms are a key component of food webs, they regulate bio-geochemical nutrient cycling such as in the nitrogen cycle, and hence the nutrient availability for the ecosystem primary producers.

Microorganisms are responsible for modifying the soil physical structure so as to better cope with disturbances and stress, allowing for more flexible responses to environmental changes than in low diversity communities. Due to the major role that microbes play in soil sustainability, some of them might be considered as indicators of soil health.

Applications of Microbes

Microbes are of tremendous importance to man. Worldwide, the economic value of microorganisms is estimated to be at least many tens of billions of dollars annually. The microbial application for economic or industrial purposes has advanced considerably with fast-paced developments in industrial microbiology and biotechnology. Microbial diversity has provided invaluable service to mankind since the ancient time.

Despite the fact that microbes were not yet been discovered in ancient times, people relied on microbes to produce different types of their food. Vinegar, yogurt, many types of cheese and most importantly bread are good examples. Almost all antibiotics have their origins in the metabolites of soil bacteria, especially within a family known as Actinomycetes.

Microbes are also used to produce vaccine providing humans with immunity against several lethal diseases such as measles and smallpox. Many diseases can be treated with microbial compounds such as diabetes, cancer, cystic fibrosis, growth hormone deficiency and hepatitis B.

In addition, microorganisms are factories for industrial enzymes production which are used to enhance detergents, to clean up toxic wastes, to replace chemicals in paper and pulp processing, and for oil extraction. Futhermore, microorganisms and their enzyme systems are responsible for the degradation of organic matter. Currently, wastewater treatment uses microbes to decompose organic matter in sewage. Microbes can also be used to create biofuels like biogas or bioethanol.

biofuel-resources

Significance of Microbial Biodiversity Conservation

While microbial communities are potentially affected by natural and anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, use of pesticides, pollution and urban development, it is not yet known how changes in microbial diversity can influence ecosystems. Dry lands have been neglected in both conservation and sustainable use efforts despite the fact that deserts are a fragile ecosystem which has to be handled carefully.

Knowledge of the composition of bacterial communities and of how these communities are affected by landscape sustainability measures will find wider application in landscape sustainability programs and contribute to future global policies. This new dimension when integrated into the general research conducted will enhance the findings that will be applied in the development, restoration and management programs of biodiversity conservation and the creation of a national biodiversity management policy.

Environmental Psychology: Key to Understanding Human-Nature Relationship

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Environmental psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology which explores how the environment impacts human behaviour and vice-versa. It is an inter-disciplinary field which encompasses all kinds of environment including natural environments, built environments, learning environments, informational environments and social settings.

Human-Nature Relationship

The key objective of environmental psychology is to improve the relationship between mankind and the environment using theory, research and practice. It also endeavours to find ways to improve our relationship with the surrounding world. The popular areas in environmental psychology includes:

  • Perception and evaluation of built environment
  • Environmental consequences of human actions
  • Evaluation of building and natural landscapes
  • Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature
  • Psychological aspects of resource management and crises

Theories in Environmental Psychology

There are several concepts and theories on how and why we act the way we do in our environment. Read more on BetterHelp to know more about psychology. Below are the major theories in environmental psychology:

1. Geographical determinism

It is primarily based on the concept that environmental parameters, such as climate, topography, vegetation and water availability, are the foundation and lifespan of civilizations. According to this theory, huge environmental challenges may lead to annihilation of civilizations while insufficient challenges may lead to stagnancy of civilizations. It is also believed that environmental factors have tremendous potential to impact our society and the way we cohabit and work together.

2. Ecological biology

The foundation of the ecological biology theory is based on the theories of biological and sociological interconnectedness between organisms and their environment where organisms are considered an integral part of their environment, ant not separate entities. This idea paves the way for the exploration of interdependencies between the organism and its environment.

3. Behaviorism

The theory of behaviorism place emphasis on environmental context and personal context with personality, attitudes and experience being the key determinants of behavior. According to behaviorists, our responses to environmental stimuli shape our actions.

4. Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology is the opposite of behaviorism with greater focus on perception and cognition. According to Gestalt thinkers, our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex systems. In contrast to seeing environmental stimuli as the sole objective factors, Gestalt psychology’s focus is on how people perceived and thought about these stimuli.

The Branches of Environmental Psychology

There are 2 major sub-disciplines of environmental psychology – conservation psychology and ecopsychology. Let us have a closer look:

1. Conservation psychology

It is the study of development of environmental attitudes and reciprocal relationships between the human and the rest of the nature with the aim of conservation of the natural ecosystems by fostering an environmental ethic. This branch of psychology is unique in its focus on the natural environment and changing attitude and behaviors.

2. Ecopsychology

The relationship between environmental and societal degradation is the mainstay of ecopsychology. Ecopsychology views human well-being integrally dependent on environmental well-being, and focuses on healing of both the human society and the nature. The key areas of focus are emotional responses to nature, impacts of environmental issues, environmental identity and environmental justice.

environmental-psychology

Environmental Psychology as a Career

Environmental psychologists have a great role to play in the well-being of the mankind and the preservation of the natural environment. Environmental psychologists are employed by the governments, non-governmental agencies, healthcare sector and the scientific community. They are associated with urban planning, environmental design and environmental health.

Conclusion

It is essential to study human behavioural changes as most of the contemporary environmental issues are caused by human behaviours and man-made changes. Environmental psychology has a crucial role to play in understanding human-nature interdependencies and finding ways to strengthen the relationship without hampering the growth of civilization.

Energy Efficiency Initiatives at the Hashemite University

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The Hashemite University environmental sustainability policy is focused on achieving sufficiency and sustainability through energy reduction practices, along with energy efficient approaches, building techniques, and electromechanical devices. These measures were employed in all of the new building expansion on campus (with more than 70,000 m2) of newly added building area. These practices are divided into categories: passive and active.

Passive Measures

Passive energy efficiency measures focus on harnessing the natural resources in the campus area to create comfortable conditions for the campus users, especially indoors, including the following techniques used throughout the campus:

  • Building envelope and materials: The choice of building materials, thermal insulation, windows location and double glazing, accessibility and exit doors, were designed following universally leading green construction guidelines, with the objective of creating arid-region sustainable buildings; minimizing thermal swings inside the building through thermal insulation.
  • Building Orientation: The location of buildings, landscape, and orientation took into consideration the movement of the sun, and wind direction in the area, allowing for creating thermally-acceptable living conditions in and around the buildings.
  • Louvers and sun-breakers: south-facing windows were fitted with extruding louvers, which allows breaking the direct sunlight from entering the building during summer days, whereas allowing it to enter the building during winter days.
  • Skylights: Skylights were extensively used throughout all campus buildings, allowing for diffused sunlight into the buildings, reducing the need for electricity and lighting, and creating natural ventilation cycles.
  • Shading: Outdoor thermally acceptable areas were created using shading by building massing, photovoltaic solar canopies and carparks, cement canopies, and trees.

Active Measures

Active energy efficiency measures are those electromechanical techniques used to create comfortable living conditions for campus users, with focus on reducing the energy needs of these techniques. These used throughout the campus include the following:

  • Lighting: All new buildings and construction use LED lights, which consumes less than 25% of the energy required by other fluorescent based light systems. Moreover, all the older buildings are being systematically retrofitted with LED light fixtures. LED in general provides higher luminesce and a better educational experience for the students.

  • Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC): Energy efficient HVAC systems were used in the new construction buildings, including hybrid central and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems. These systems allow for responding to variable air conditioning needs, which decreases energy losses. Energy-efficient central and split unit systems are being retrofitted to the older building on-campus.
  • Building-Integrated Controllers: Computer-based and processor-based sensors employed throughout the campus to allow for ambient light and temperature condition measurements, allowing for active, automatic control of lights and HVAC systems, reducing the need for manual intervention and reducing the energy requirements to run these systems.

Co-Author: Prof. Dr. Kamal Eddin Bani-Hani

Prof. Dr. Kamal Eddin Bani-Hani, is President of the Hashemite University since late 2011, Professor of Surgery, Hashemite University; Department of General Surgery and Specialized Surgery. He is leading a vision of economical, social, and environmental sustainability for the university. He received, on behalf of the Hashemite University, the Medal Order of Independence of the First Class for achievements in education and research. Among the many awards won, a couple of them is Aug 2011, Dr. Nabeeh Muammar Prize for the “Distinguished Physician” Award. In Apr 2009, Scopus-Elsevier award to honor contribution to science Award

الأردن وتحدي التغير المناخ

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يعتبر التغير المناخي من أكبر التحديات التي تواجهها البشرية في العصر الحالي, وذلك لما له من أثارٍ مدمرة على الطبيعة والإنسان على حد سواء, ولا يعتبر الأردن استثناءً فالعالم أجمع يشهد الآثار الوخيمة لتغير المناخ التي أصبحت مصدر تهديد للحياة، ومنها: انخفاض هطول الأمطار، والفيضانات، والجفاف, وما يرافقها من تغيرات وتحديات مجتمعية مستمرة، كالنمو السكاني السريع، والتقلبات السياسية، والهجرة الناجمة عن الصراع.

sustainable-development-jordan

مناخ الأردن عبر التاريخ

يقع الأردن في قلب الشرق الأوسط على بعد 80 كم شرق البحر الأبيض المتوسط, ويتميز الأردن بطبيعة طبوغرافية فريدة من نوعها حيث يمثل الجزء الغربي منه أدنى واد في العالم, كما يتميز الأردن بأربعة مناطق جغرافية وهي: منطقة البحرالمتوسط, الإيراني الطوراني, والسوداني الإستوائي, والصحراء العربية. أما تاريخياً, فلقد شهد الأردن العديد من التغيرات المناخية, والتي يبينها الجدول (1) منذ ما قبل عهد السيد المسيح عليه السلام:

jordan-climate-change

إنبعاث غازات الدفيئة في الأردن

مايلي تفصيل لمصادر الإنبعاثات الرئيسة في الأردن:

  1. قطاع الطاقة بما فيه قطاع النقل والمسؤول عن 74٪ من إجمالي إنبعاثات غازات الدفيئة في الأردن.
  2. قطاع النفايات والمسؤول عن 13٪ من إجمالي إنبعاثات غازات الدفيئة في الأردن.
  3. قطاع الصناعة بنسبة إنبعاث 8٪ من إجمالي إنبعاثات غازات الدفيئة في الأردن عام 2000.
  4. سوء إستخدام الأراضي والمسؤول عن 4٪ من إجمالي إنبعاثات غازات الدفيئة في الأردن.
  5. معالجة مياه الصرف الصحي والتي شكلت ما نسبته 1٪ .

 تغير المناخ البشري المنشأ في الأردن

كشف التقرير الوطني الثالث للتغير المناخي عن توقعات المناخ حتى عام 2100, حيث بين أنّ الأردن سيشهد ارتفاعاً ملحوظاً في درجة الحرارة بمعدل 1.7 – 3.2 س، في الوقت الذي سيشهد فيه زيادة في موجات الحرارة ومواسم الجفاف, كما تنبأ أن متوسط ​​الحد الأقصى لدرجات الحرارة يمكن أن يتجاوز 42 – 44 درجة مئوية للبلد بأكمله. إضافة إلى ذلك, يشير التقرير إلى أن تساقط الأمطار سيتراجع بحدود 15%, وبالرغم من تراجع هطول الأمطار إلا أنه من المتوقع الزيادة في شدتها مما يسبب الفيضانات التي قد تؤثرعلى النظم البيئية الهشة في الأردن.  

موقف الأردن من الإلتزامات الدولية في التخفيف من والتكيف مع الإحتباس الحراري

لا غلو في  أن الأردن لا يعد بلداً مسبباً للتغير المناخي, حيث أن مساهمة الأردن العالمية في إنبعاثات الغازات الدفيئة ضئيلة جداً بنسبة تقارب ال 20 مليون طن سنوياً من مكافئ الكربون, ورغم ذلك, فإنه يقر ويتشارك المسؤولية الدولية لمواجهة أخطار التغير المناخي, لذلك كانت الأردن من الدول السباقة التي وقعت على اتفاقية التغيّر المناخي (UNFCCC)عام 1992 وكل ما نتج عنها من استراتيجيات.

ولقد وضع الأردن “سياسة التغير المناخي للمملكة الأردنية الهاشمية sلفترة 2013-2020” وهي منهجية علمية متكاملة تهدف إلى التصدي لمخاطر تغير المناخ, والتخفيف من إنبعاثات الغازات الدفيئة ليكون الأردن بلداً منخفض الكربون وبإقتصاد أخضر, والمضي قدماً في مسار بناء مجتمعاتٍ صحيةٍ ومستدامةٍ مع أخذ قضايا النوع الإجتماعي  وقضايا الحفاظ على الموارد المائية والزراعية والنظم البيئية بعين الإعتبار. كما أَسست وزارة البيئة الأردنية مديرية لتغير المناخ والتي تختص في التغير المناخي بما في ذلك التكيف والتخفيف وتمويل الكربون. وبالرغم من تأثير الأوضاع السياسية الراهنة في المنطقة على الأردن مثل قضايا اللاجئين وما أدت إليه من مشاكل إقتصادية وإجتماعية طارئة، إلا أنه لم يتجاهل مشكلة تغير المناخ ومازال يعمل على التخطيط للتعامل مع عواقبه ووفق الإمكانات المتاحة, حيث ينبغي على الأردن التصرف بذكاء لخفض الآثار السلبية لتغير المناخ خاصة في القطاعات الحساسة مثل الأمن المائي والأمن الغذائي.

نتائج الإستطلاع العام لمستوى الوعي بظاهرة تغير المناخ بين الأردنيين

خلال السنوات الماضية، زاد الوعي العالمي بمخاطر تغيرالمناخ, إلا أن دراسات علمية استنتجت أن مواطنين البلدان المتقدمة يعتبرون تغير المناخ تهديداً على العكس من أقرانهم في الدول النامية، بالرغم من  أن البلدان النامية هي الأكثرعرضةً لتأثيرات تغير المناخ. يعتبر الأردن استناءاً لهذا الإستنتاج, حيث أنه في 2014، نشرت نتائج إستطلاع قامت به وزارة البيئة الأردنية بالتعاون مع الجمعية العلمية الملكية و(UNDP) إلى أن مستوى الوعي العام بتغير المناخ لدى الأردنيين كان مرتفعاً؛ فقد تبين أن 78٪ من الأردنيين يدركون حقيقة وجود تغير في المناخ خلال السنوات الماضية، في حين ذكر التقرير أن 73٪ يدركون أن سبب تغير المناخ الحالي هو الأنشطة البشرية مثل قطاع النقل, كما تظهر النتائج أن هنالك معرفة جيدة حول حقيقة أن مساهمة الأردن في إحداث تغير في المناخ هي مساهمة طفيفة. وأظهرت نصف العينة المدروسة موقفاً إيجابياً تجاه إنخراطهم في العمل للحد من تغير المناخ، في حين أعربت نسبة ضئيلة من العينة عن رغبتها في الإنضمام إلى منظمات تتناول قضية تغير المناخ بنسبة 16٪, وأظهرت الدراسة الإستطلاعية أن 53٪ من العينة أبدت إستعدادها للدفع لإقتناء المنتجات الصديقة للبيئة . 

ماذا بعد؟

جميعنا ندفع ثمن التغير المناخي اليوم, وإذا لم يتم اتخاذ إجراءات فورية للحد من آثاره فإن أطفال وشباب الحاضر هم الذين سيواجهون العواقب المتزايدة للإحتباس الحراري مستقبلاً. يدرك الأردن أن الإستجابة البيئية والإقتصادية لخطر تغير المناخ هو أمر حتمي, ومن الواضح أن الأردن خطى خطوات كبيرة خلال السنوات الماضية  فيما يتعلق في السياسات والتشريعات الإقتصادية والإجتماعية. لكن, وبالإضافة إلى المقترحات التي  ذكرت في سياسة التغير المناخي في الأردن مثل: الإقتصاد الأخضر والمدن الخضراء وتمكين المجتمع الريفي, والتركيز على الإعلام بهدف التوعية وممارسات التكيف الذكية, فأنه لا يسعنا تجاهل أصوات الشباب ولا التقليل من شأن مطالبهم, فالعالم يسير قدماً في مسار غير مستدام مما يضائل الفرص المتاحة لشباب اليوم,  لذا فليس من المستغرب أن يتم التوصية في هذه المقالة أن يكون الشباب في الخطوط الأمامية للجهود المبذولة لمحاربة التغير المناخي, هذا أولاً.

climate-change-jordan

ثانياُ, يجب تضمين النساء في هذه الجهود فهن يعتبرن من الفئات الحساسة والمتضررة من التغير المناخي خاصة في المناطق الأقل حظاً. عالمياً, بدأت رؤيا جديدة بالظهور ألا وهي تحقيق الصحة الإنجابية للنساء والدور الجوهري الذي يلعبه هذا في بناء قدرة البلد على التأقلم والتخفيف من حدة آثار التحديات المتصلة بالتغير المناخي.

الجهود العالمية التي تقودها الأمم المتحدة لمكافحة تغير المناخ ومن ضمنها اتفاقية باريس والتي وقع عليها ما يقارب بـ  200 بلداَ, تضمنت التزاماً “بالحق في الصحة” كما يبرز الإتفاق التزامها بالمساواة بين الجنسين وتمكين المرأة, ولهذا السبب تم دعوة الموقعين على اتفاق باريس إلى الإعتراف بأهمية تمكين الإناث من خلال ضمان حصولهن على خدمات الصحة الجنسية والإنجابية، والدور الرئيسي الذي يلعبه هذا في الإستراتيجيات الوطنية لتغير المناخ. إن معرفة التأثيرات المتوقعة للتغير المناخي على مستوى الأسرة يجب أن يكون بشكل ممنهج, وكجزء من تمكين المرأة؛ يجب العمل على زيادة تنمية مهاراتها وصقلها وخلق الفرص السياسية والإقتصادية أمامها من خلال التدريب وربطها بمبادرات محو الأمية العامة والتعليم.

المراجع 

اللغة العربية

  1. نوره عبود”آثار تغير المناخ البشري المنشأ على النظم البيئية المختلفة.”  EcoMENA, 2014.
  2. نوره عبود, الأردن والتغير المناخي, مجلة آفاق البيئة والتنمية , 2014

المراجع الإنجليزية :

  1. Jordan’s Second National Communication Report, http://www.moenv.gov.jo/ebv4.0/root_storage/ar/eb_list_page/jordans_secound_national_communication_report.pdf
  2. The Royal Scientific Society. Enabling Activities for the Preparation of Jordan`s Third National Communication to the UNFCCC. Amman, 2014. Print.
  3. Matouq, Mohammed. et al “The Climate Change Implication on Jordan: A Case Study Using GIS and Artificial Neural Networks for Weather Forecasting.”Science Direct. Journal of Taibah University for Science, 2013.
  4. Hamdi, Moshrik. et al “Climate Change in Jordan: A Comprehensive Examination Approach.” American Journal of Environmental Sciences5.1 (2009): 58-68.
  5. Namoroqa, Hana. “Climate Change to Affect Kingdom’s Biodiversity – Microbiologist.” Jordan Times. Jordan Times, 2013
  6. Harrison, Sandy. “Future Climate Change in Jordan: An Analysis of State-of-the-Art Climate Model Simulations.” (2009): n. pag. Royal Society for Nature Conservation.
  7. The National Climate Change Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2013-2020.” (n.d.): n. pag. The Ministry of Environment. Web. 2013. <http://www.jo.undp.org/content/dam/jordan/docs/Publications/Climate%20change%20policy_JO.pdf>.
  8. “Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis.” IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, 2013
  9. Al-Qaisi, Bassam. “Climate Change Effects on Water Resources in Amman Zarqa Basin – Jordan.” Ministry of Water and Irrigation –Water Authority of Jordan(2010). Web. <http://www.jeaconf.org/UploadedFiles/Document/67a04de3-7eaa-4de5-9d40-5f4debb1efc8.pdf>.
  10. Jordan’s Third National Communication Report, http://www.moenv.gov.jo/ebv4.0/root_storage/ar/eb_list_page/jordans_third_national_communication_report.pdf
  11. Matouqa M. et al The climate change implication on Jordan: A case study using GIS and Artificial Neural Networks for weather forecasting

How to Find the Best Marketing Firm or Tools For Your Company

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In today’s business life, effective marketing is a game-changer. The choices can be overwhelming if you seek a dedicated marketing firm or the right tools. Worry not as we embark on a comprehensive exploration to demystify the process.

In this article we will find the critical situations, hidden treasures, and expert insights to ensure you find the best marketing fit for your company’s success. Let’s go into the marketing distinction together.

best marketing tools for your business

Boost Your Online Presence

If you want your website to glow on search engines? Check out these effective SEO strategies, mainly focusing on wise link-building:

Quality Content is Essential

Create engaging and informative content others want to link to.

Outreach Outreach Outreach

Connect with others in your field—share your content and ask for links.

Guest Posting Charm

Write for other websites to get quality links back to your own. There are such great strategies for effective link-building that you can use to boost your website’s performance. We suggest you review and start using them.

Social Media Sharing

Distribute the word on social platforms to boost visibility and attract more links.

By using these strategies for sufficient link-building, you’re on your way to raising the SEO ranks and standing out online.

Free Tools for Marketing Firms

In the busy marketing world, free tools can be a change maker for efficiency and productivity. Here are some helpful resources for free Project Management Software that can boost your marketing firm’s qualifications:

Trello

A user-friendly project management tool that keeps your team organized and on track.

Google Analytics

Dive into the data of your online efforts to understand what works and what needs improvement.

Canva

Create eye-catching visuals and graphics for your marketing campaigns without the hefty price tag.

HubSpot

This robust, free customer relationship management tool manages your client relationships easily..

Asana

Another excellent project management option, Asana, helps streamline tasks and keeps everyone on the same page.

Using these free tools, including the essential Free Project Management Software, your marketing firm can improve collaboration, track performance, and provide exceptional results without harming your budget.

LinkedIn marketing guide

Top SMM Tools For Free

Looking to up your social media game without spending a dime? Check out these free SMM tools that can make a significant impact:

Hootsuite

Schedule posts and handle multiple social media accounts from one platform.

Buffer

Plan, schedule, and analyze your social media content effortlessly.

Canva

Create stunning graphics and visuals to make your posts stand out.

Facebook Insights

Dive into detailed analytics for your Facebook page.

TweetDeck

Ideal for Twitter enthusiasts, it helps you manage and schedule tweets.

Find the best Tool

Compare the top SMM 50 tools to find the perfect fit for your needs. With these  tools, you can enhance your social media strategy and connect with your audience.

Time and Help Efficiency

Outsourcing marketing efforts to agencies allows businesses to focus on their core operations. Marketing agencies bring efficiency by dedicating their time and resources to planning, managing, and studying marketing campaigns, ensuring optimal results without weakening internal teams.

You can use Sortlist.com, a dynamic platform dedicated to simplifying and finding the perfect marketing match to connect your company with trade agencies.

Stay Present with Trends

Marketing agencies are immersed in the ever-evolving landscape of marketing trends and technologies. Collaborating with them ensures your business stays ahead of the curve, leveraging the latest strategies and tools to maintain a competitive advantage in the market.

why offering benefits to employees is essential

Objective Perspective

External marketing agencies bring an objective viewpoint to a business’s marketing strategy. Their fresh perspective can uncover new opportunities, identify areas for improvement, and provide not subjective insights that might be difficult to achieve within an internal team.

Cost-Effective Solutions

While there’s an investment, partnering with marketing agencies can be cost-effective in the long run. Agencies often have set tools and technologies, and their joint expertise can lead to more efficient and great campaigns, potentially saving costs compared to in-house efforts.

Joining with marketing agencies can be a strategic move for businesses looking to improve their brand company, reach a wider audience, and gain long-term success.

Expertise Across Specializations

Marketing agencies often house various skilled specialists, offering digital marketing, content creation, graphic design, and SEO services. Businesses can access complete solutions connected to their unique needs using their expertise.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the best approach blends with your company’s vision. It does not matter whether you collaborate with a marketing firm that understands your values or use tools that simplify your processes.

As you enter on this journey to find the best marketing solutions through partnerships or tools, may your choices be strategic, your efforts be impactful, and your path be full of success from well-informed decisions.

How to Improve Employee Engagement with Employee Benefits

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In the modern corporate landscape, organizations prioritize employee engagement as one of the top components of driving business success. One foolproof option to attract top talent and foster their loyalty is creating a positive work environment. So, to get to the point, businesses use different strategies, one of which is offering attractive benefits.

This article will help you explore why offering benefits to employees is essential. We will also discuss top strategies to enhance your staff engagement through the following benefits.

why offering benefits to employees is essential

The Power of Offering Employee Benefits

Attracting, retaining, and engaging top talent is the dream of every entrepreneur. A well-crafted benefits package has a twofold impact on achieving this goal. Flexible working hours, wellness programs, and growth opportunities are just a few of the advantages that companies incorporate into their compensation packages.

Let’s admit that many employees today prefer working at offices where they will have a minimum of the mentioned benefits. It helps them feel more comfortable, satisfied, valued, and find a better work-life balance, thus avoiding burnout.

Wise companies understand this, so they heavily invest in their compensation packages to attract and retain top talent, which can play a pivotal role in propelling their companies forward. It is also worth regularly reviewing and updating your benefit package to align with the evolving needs and expectations of employees. Ideally, to get to the point, try adding some of the trending employee benefits.

Improving Employee Engagement – Best Practices

Now, let’s explore best practices that will assist you in creating a comprehensive employee compensation package.

1. Offer Health and Wellness Benefits

Incorporating health and wellness programs into your compensation package is crucial. Your package should include comprehensive healthcare coverage, including medical, dental, and vision plans. Some companies go a step further by offering family health insurance, thus making their organization more appealing as a workplace.

In addition to healthcare, consider integrating wellness packages. You can offer wellness initiatives such as gym memberships, team-building opportunities, and stress management programs. Larger companies often provide in-house gyms.

But if you can’t offer an in-house gym, there are many fitness clubs ready to suggest perfect corporate packages for big staff. For instance, you might consider providing fitness memberships for all staff through Anytime Fitness, which offers around-the-clock access to over 5,100 workout locations worldwide.

2. Incorporate Flexible Work Arrangements

In the post-pandemic landscape, flexible work arrangements have emerged as a highly sought-after benefit. Plus, it is a win-win option for employees and employers. For employers, there is no need to highly invest in office equipment and rent an area for the workplace.

For employees, this flexibility provides the perfect opportunity to manage their days according to their preferences, allowing them to work at their own pace. This notably enhances employee engagement as individuals achieve a better life-work balance.

How to Make Your Business Operations Sustainable

3. Offer Professional Growth Opportunity

If you want your staff to stay satisfied, offer them professional growth opportunities. One effective way to achieve this is by implementing workplace mentoring programs for co-workers. You can make it quite cost-effective.

For instance, you can ask your senior employees to create short courses for mid-level or junior colleagues. This approach will not only help your employees expand their skill sets but will also boost a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration within your organization.

4. Reward Your Employees

Another powerful strategy to enhance your staff’s morale and motivation is recognizing their achievements. You can implement rewards and recognition programs in your company. For example, you may award your best workers at the end of each year, emphasizing your gratitude toward them.

There are different forms of recognition, such as awards, peer-to-peer recognition programs, performance-based bonuses, additional days off, etc. Additionally, you can give some creative gifts to your hard workers. If you do not know what kind of gift is worth giving employees, then explore the latest trends in employee gifting for 2023.

5. Ask For Feedback

It is important to understand how your team feels about the perks and benefits you offer them. Therefore, collecting feedback on a regular basis to understand your employees needs is  essential.It will help you identify the ways to achieve it.

With this aim, you may conduct surveys, which will help you collect information on how your people are feeling. Encourage employees to express their thoughts about existing benefits and make suggestions to create new ones. This not only ensures that your benefits are in line with the changing needs of your staff, but it also reflects a commitment to their well-being and job satisfaction.

Wrapping Up

The power of employee benefits in today’s professional landscape is truly important to attract top talents and cultivate their loyalty as dedicated team members. That is the reason why, in a modern working environment, companies compete to suggest compelling compensation packages.

So, we have highlighted essential strategies that should become an integral part of your package, ensuring your ability to consistently attract and retain top talent. Also, remember to cater to the benefits aligned with your staff’s needs, and you will need to create a competitive workplace.

Can The UAE Implement a More Localised Food System? Why That Matters Amid COP28.

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If you’ve ever been to or lived in the United Arab Emirates, you might be as surprised as those who haven’t to know that the UAE does produce its own crops. Local produce is a rare sight in UAE’s supermarket, as more than 90% of its food products are imported from across the globe. Such a phenomenon is present in numerous other countries- where imports are unreasonably high or even worse, at an equal rate as exports. This begs the question: can a small desert land such as the UAE reduce its reliance on importing if it really tried? And why should it, anyway?

Farming in the UAE

Global Food Trade

Global food trade has been a subject of heavy discussion and debate lately. Figuratively, food systems account for one-third of global emissions[1] and are the second largest emitters of greenhouse gases- mainly due to the travel of food through land, air, and sea. Thus, the transport of food- exasperated by patterns of global food trade- contributes approximately 19 percent of global food system greenhouse gas emissions[2]. The map below, for instance, illustrates the complex supply chain of red meat production in China alone. Arrows indicate the food transport emissions, while the bubbles show food production emissions.

emissions from meat sector in china

[3] Map of red meat supply chain emissions in China (in tonnes or kilotonnes of CO2e)

Farming in the UAE

In countries such as the UAE, agriculture faces many difficulties. Since it is primarily a desert, less than 5% of its land is arable, while the level of salt in waters only continues to increase. Currently, groundwater reserves are being used more than 20 times faster than they can be recharged.[4] At this rate, fresh water is expected to diminish in 60-70 years, according to Murtada, an agricultural engineer working in Silal. Abu Dhabi’s municipality even tried to use treated effluent to irrigate food crops back in 2012- a decision that was met with disapproval and resistance. It ultimately failed crops and was quickly abandoned. “Now the UAE is focusing on recycling water in greenhouses and equipping farms with water salination devices”, says Murtada.

Presently, there are about 2000 farms in the emirate of Abu Dhabi alone, concentrated in Al Ain, Al Gharbia, Al Wathbah, Al Khatam and Al Dhafra regions among others. Open fields are also widely present, with crops being grown primarily during the months of October to April. “Production [of crops] takes place in specific seasons, not throughout the year. Only specific crops can be produced as well, such as tomatoes, zucchinis, peppers, leafy greens, and cucumbers.” Explains farm owner Hareef Al Mard from Abu Dhabi.

Yet farm owners in the UAE are still striving to increase their produce with the help of new technologies, as well as the government’s support. Greenhouses and Net houses are extensively used in the UAE due to the hot weather, using solar and diesel energy for electricity. The UAE is also investing in water farming, where 70% of the water is recycled and thus addresses water scarcity. “No pesticide is needed either, making it much more convenient for the farmer.” Says Murtada. However, water farming is very expensive for your regular farm owner, according to an Emirati farmer owner in Abu Dhabi.

The Local Market

“Open importing is the biggest challenge in this country, aside from the weather and salt water.” Says Hareef. This is one of the many negative impacts of an open global food trade as seen in countries all over the world. Farmers in the UAE usually sell their produce at food Co-ops in the emirates of Dubai and Sharjah. The produce that isn’t sold is returned to the farmer.

“Food co-ops and markets don’t care about where you brought your produce from or how you maintained it.” Says an Emirati farm owner. “Open fields or greenhouses, they’ll still sell at the same price or lower. Competition in the local market is very unfair. Customers find imported crops sold for cheaper and so they buy them. This is how the imported foods break the local market.”

He went on to give an example from his own personal experience. “I would have a really good produce of cucumbers- grown in greenhouses with good soil- which cost me about 5 DHS per 16 KG, but then I’d have to sell it for 1.5 – 2.5 DHS. More often than not, we incur losses, not profit. I pump in money from my own personal savings just to keep the farm going.”

hydroponic farming

Shifting the Narrative at COP28

These complaints aren’t said without proposed solutions either. “As a first step, the government should put a quota on food imports, such as Saudia Arabia and Jordan.” Says farm owner Hareef. “They could also forbid imports during specific months, for example from December to February, as a test.”

During a panel discussion at the 42nd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), the Minister of Climate Change and environment Marian Almheiri (Former minister of state for Food Security) said the UAE “wants to increase imports but decrease our dependence on imports”. Their top priority is to maintain food security and achieve the UAE national food security strategy 2051. However, efforts have also been made to enhance local production as part of the strategy. “The emirate of Abu Dhabi has set a goal to increase local production by 20% each year. It has currently surpassed 37 million tons of local produce, and targets to surpass 100 million tons of local produce in the next 2 seasons.” Says Agricultural engineer Emad.

farming trends in UAE

H.E. Mariam Bint Mohammed Almheiri speaking at a panel discussion titled “The Significance of Promoting Sustainable Food Systems” at Sharjah International Book Fair Nov 2023.

Such ambitions cannot be achieved without regulated market prices and restricted imports for farmers and farm owners, however. These discussions are especially important with the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) going on in from the 30th Nov until 12th Dec, as questions are asked about the UAE’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and its role in shifting the narrative away from global food trade. With H.E Mariam Almheiri as the COP28 Food Systems lead of negotiations, her message is not only important but vital in shaping the coming decisions.

In conclusion, while great work has been done to increase local food production in the UAE, much more work is needed in terms of policies to create an enabling environment for local farmers to sell their own produce and encourage them to become more productive. This matters not only for farmers and farm owners of the UAE, but also as an example for over 80,000 delegates convening in Dubai and those representing their country.

[1] https://www.carbonbrief.org/food-systems-responsible-for-one-third-of-human-caused-emissions/

[2] https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/06/21/fifth-of-global-food-related-emissions-due-to-transport.html

[3] https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00531-w

[4] https://water.fanack.com/uae/water-quality/

Environmental Therapy as an Emerging Therapeutic Method

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Environmental therapy is a therapeutic tool aimed at treating both physical health and mental health issues by detoxifying the body. The basic idea behind environmental therapy, also known as ecotherapy, is that the human beings are connected to the natural environment and are influenced by the changes taking place in the external environment due to the presence of environmental toxins. Detoxification of the body through outdoor activities is the mainstay of environmental therapy.

environmental-therapy

The Rationale for Environmental Therapy

In the past few decades, the deterioration of the environment has not only wreaked havoc for natural ecosystems but also led to proliferation of a wide range of diseases among human beings due to a deadly cocktail of toxins, allergens, microorganisms and other types of stimuli. The result has been the rapid increase in different types of cancers, chronic allergies, asthma, anxiety, depression and other ailments. BetterHelp has more information on psychotherapy for anxiety.

Going back to nature is the buzzword these days, and ecotherapy is also based on the same concept. The diseases caused by environmental factors are difficult to understand using the standard scientific methodologies due to the complexities associated with environmental parameters. Environmental therapy endeavours to solve environment-related health issues by making a connection with the Nature and its systems.

Environmental therapists believe that the Nature has a self-balancing mechanism which works through a complex web of natural phenomenon and if human beings can be in harmony with the natural elements, they can improve physical health as well as mental health. According to environmental therapy, the well-being of the mankind and well-being of the Planet are inter-connected.

Many studies have shown that a direct interaction with Nature has the potential to improve physical health, mental health and life satisfaction. In short, people should more time in green environs to experience the healing touch of Nature. For example, the presence of indoor plants in a workplace has been proven to positively affect creativity and productivity.

Modes of Environmental Therapy

Environmental therapy encompasses a wide range of nature-based healing approaches which may be carried out individually or under the guidance of a therapist in groups. It is advised to conduct ecotherapy in natural settings to obtain the best results.

Some of the popular environmental therapy activities are mentioned below:

1. Nature meditation

Nature is rejuvenating and has a tremendous power to uplift our spirits. Nature mediation is a group-based activity which usually takes place in a natural setting, such as a park or wilderness. Meditating in nature activates our senses which assists in mindfulness training and propels the individual to contemplate how a particular aspect of nature relates him to and what he can learn from it.

For example, a senior may regain self-respect after observing how old trees provide shelter for birds and shade for younger plants and passers-by.

2. Horticultural therapy

It involves engagement of a person in gardening-related activities to achieve specific therapeutic goals and to promote well-being. The key activities include digging soil, planting, maintaining garden beds, trimming leaves and mowing grass. Horticulture therapy is particularly useful for cases of social isolation, depression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse.

Some studies have found that horticultural therapy aids is faster recovery and improves mood, leading to shorter stays for patients in mental health facilities and hospitals.

3. Animal-assisted therapy

It involves the use of animals as a tool to help in the healing process. The major goal of pet therapy is to help people cope with physical and mental ailments by using the concept of human-animal bond.  For example, playing with a dog may reduce aggression and agitation in some individuals. You can read more on how psychiatric service dogs can be helpful for people with mental health issues or disabilities in this article.

4. Physical activity in a natural environment

Physical exercise in a natural environment has the potential to provide greater mental and physical rejuvenation than elsewhere. Physical activities such as walking, jogging, cycling, or doing yoga in a park foster increased awareness of the natural ecosystems and can reduce stress, anxiety and anger.

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5. Involvement in conservation activities

Conservation of natural ecosystems, usually done in groups, is a therapeutic treatment to can assist in creating a sense of belonging and connectedness with the natural world. The key aims of conservation activities is to protect, preserve and restore biodiversity.

Bottom Line

Understanding the importance of nature can not only improve our physical and mental health but also help us to preserve it. Environmental therapy is an alternative therapeutic method to improve our well-being, besides assisting us to reduce our ecological footprint, conserve nature, and connect with nature.