Last year’s top 3 GAIA finalists THIMUN Qatar 2022:

 

First Place, Winner of QAR 3,000

DPS – Modern Indian School- Food for Future

Video for Food for Future

Through our project ‘Food for Future’, we explored the interaction between humans, the environment and animals. More specifically we discussed the impact of overfishing and bad fishing practices, the problem of wasteful meat production, the impact of ocean pollution, and our activities and solutions for each of these issues. For our first issue – overfishing and bad fishing practices – we went to the Corniche fish market where we interviewed the local fishermen about their fishing practices and the fishing practices of bigger companies. Second, for wasteful meat production, to gain better insight about the industry, we sat down for an interview with Jason Thompson, a Manager at Evergreen Organics – the first and biggest vegan café in Qatar. Now equipped with a deeper understanding about the resource intensive meat industry and the viability of plant based diets, to spread awareness about the same, we conducted an awareness campaign. We talked to locals about the aforementioned issues and showed them inexpensive meat alternatives that can be easily found in local malls and markets. Lastly, for ocean pollution, we had the chance to talk to the leader of Doha Environmental Actions Project (DEAP) – José Saucedo. Inspired by his work, we conducted a beach clean-up ourselves to contribute to the cause. All the while, we kept updating our active social media following about the aforementioned problems, our interviews and our activities for each issue. This required extensive planning and organisation skills to finalise the issues we wanted to address, research more about the issues, reach out to professionals for our interviews, schedule and prepare for our activities and maintain our social media pages.

 

Second Place, Winner of QAR 2,000

BPS – Birla Public School- Project Upcycle

Video for Project Upcycle

The organization Project Upcycle works to upcycle waste material into sustainable fashion. In order to make our products, we are collaborating with an online business and a small business. These products will soon be available. In order to promote sustainability, we use old, torn, or waste materials to create bags, masks, and scrunchies. On the website you can check them out and even buy a couple if you’d like! Making tote bags from old skirts, or making scrunchies and masks from waste tailoring material, is one way to upcycle old clothes in a sustainable way and keep your look vibrant and colourful. We decided to collaborate with a small business called The Sewing Studio. We decided to collaborate with another online business which can sell our products and found Eco Souk as the perfect sponsor! SDGs included are SDG 8, 11, 12 and 17. SDG 8: Decent work and Economic Growth. Ensure sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Ensuring inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production Consumption and production patterns should be sustainable. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals. Strengthen the means of implementing the global partnership for sustainable development.

 

Third Place, Winner of QAR 1,000

Qatar Academy Doha- RENGEN

Video for RENGEN

Project RENGEN was created by students from Qatar Academy Doha in partnership with Qatar Academy Science and Technology and TEXAS A&M ISTEM labs in order to develop a new generation of sustainable young engineers. Under the expert guidance of ISTEM lab leaders, students underwent training on how to think like engineers, and create prototypes that model their concepts. Each young engineer was challenged to create a generator from renewable sources of energy. 20 students spent 3 weeks in the lab conceiving and creating their designs and concepts, and then presented their concept to the team. There were many ingenious and innovative ways to use solar, hydro and wind power, and also projects that used sound and punching power which had the added benefit of mental health relief! After a hard day of stress a young person would use a punching machine to relieve their feelings, which will then generate electricity into a battery which can be used to charge items via a usb. This project addresses SDG 7, which is an essential component of development in our world, where technology has an increasingly essential role in breaking cycles of poverty, accessing education, and addressing global climate change, thus connecting this project to SDG 1, 4 and 13 in the wider sense.