Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority opens Eco Future Exhibition on Saadiyat Island

Presented by TCA Abu Dhabi, Eco Future was developed in close collaboration with expertise from Abu Dhabi entities including Masdar, Abu Dhabi Education Council, Urban Planning Council, Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Emirates Wildlife Society and Tourism Development & Investment Company.

With a commitment to interactive childrens' learning at its heart, the exhibition provides insight into the environmental impact of UAE residents' contemporary lifestyles. Young students who attended the opening acted as timely, appropriate ambassadors for their generation and encouraged other schools, families and tourists to experience Eco Future.

His Excellency Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, TCA Abu Dhabi said, "We have deliberately launched the Eco Future exhibition to coincide with the United Nations' World Tourism Day and to support this year's 'sustainable energy' theme. Our shared goal is to promote awareness of the sometimes precarious balance between human existence and development on one hand, and nature and the environment on the other. Eco Future will hopefully inspire younger generation in the UAE to understand their responsibility to nurture what they see around them, in order to enjoy nature's resources and preserve them for the next generation."

Eco Future is divided into sections which provide insight into how people's choices affect the planet. The journey through the exhibition is guided by four lively characters - Yas, Moza, Ali and Sara, who will explore, together with visitors, how to discover a better way of living. The results of visitors' decisions, made through a variety of interactive tools at each section, will be compiled to reveal a personalised vision of a Future City resembling Abu Dhabi, at the end of the exhibition.

Eco Future also features a rich public programme of workshops tailored to audiences of all ages, including a workshop that offers a paddle through nearby mangroves followed by an in-door art-making activity inspired by the unique flora and fauna of the UAE. Two of the renowned Artscape events, this time called EcoScape, will be held on the evening of 16 January and 9 May at Manarat Al Saadiyat and will feature a variety of hands-on craft and art-making workshops using recycled materials, interactive demonstrations that inspire the imagination and live performances that explore the exhibition's fascinating ecological themes.

Eco Future will be held at Manarat Al Saadiyat which opened in 2009 and has welcomed approximately 280,000 visitors to date. It will be open from 10am to 8pm daily, and will stay open for 12 months.