HCT students take up eco-challenge

The aim is for students to develop environmental campaign strategies as part of their course work. The move marks the beginning of 'Project Eco-challenge,' a joint EWS and HCT (Higher Colleges of Technology) initiative that promotes community participation through educational institutes. The project also provides work experience opportunities to national students.

This year 18 ADWC students are learning about advertising and marketing in one of their Communication Technology courses by creating a marketing strategy and advertising campaign with EWS-WWF. The project focuses on 'coral reef protection vs. coastal development.'

"We suggested several environmental issues to the students, and they chose to work on coral reefs since they wanted to know more about these habitats, and also because they see coastal development occurring at many places along the shoreline," said Razan Al Mubarak, Managing Director, EWS.

"It's a great experience for our students to work with the EWS-WWF on a 'real life' project about coastal development since it is an important and current ecological issue," said Helen Pearce, Supervisor, Communication Technology, ADWC.

As part of 'Project Eco-challenge,' students were exposed to the pros and cons of conservation and coastal development through discussions, field trips, and a workshop held on March 22nd, 2006 at the ADWC.

Right from the outset, EWS-WWF facilitated students' interaction with environmentalists, developers and communication professionals. Among the environmental experts consulted were: Dr. Frederic Launay (Director, WWF - UAE), Ibrahim N. Al Zubi (Emirates Diving Association), and Ron Loughland (Commission of Environmental Research, Emirates Heritage Club). The developers' perspective was provided by ALDAR, the Abu Dhabi-based real estate agency that is undertaking land reclamation for the Al Raha beach development close to Al Sammaliah Island and, among other projects, the Al Gurm Resort and Spa.

At a recent workshop on 'Marketing and PR for Conservation,' students learned how the WWF develops campaigns from Razan Al Mubarak and Lisa Shrake Perry. James Duthie, Managing Director, Ogilvy and Mather MENA, spoke to them about advertising and marketing tools, using specific examples from the creative work that Ogilvy & Mather (the company is a WWF conservation partner) had provided for WWF advertisements in major international media. Dr. Launay and Razan Al Mubarak pointed out the consequences of coastal ecosystem destruction, and Jonathan Ali Khan, Managing Director, Ocean World Productions, talked about fund raising and marketing for films and TV documentaries on environment.

To wrap up, Al Mubarak stressed, "When the campaign strategy is finalized, students will get the opportunity to present this to the EWS-WWF Board. The Board will also be shown a promotional presentation prepared by Afra Al Marar, our first ADWC work experience student, who is filming some of our work."