MOCCAE Celebrates Green Innovation Challenge Winners Advancing Youth-Led Environmental Solutions
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment honoured three winning teams at Ru'ya Careers UAE 2026, recognising their AI-enabled proposals addressing critical sustainability challenges across the Emirates.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has concluded its participation in Ru’ya Careers UAE 2026 by celebrating the achievements of the Green Innovation Challenge, a three-day initiative designed to empower high school students to create innovative, technology-driven responses to pressing environmental and societal issues.
Held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 28 to 30 September 2026, the challenge demonstrated the Ministry’s commitment to positioning young people as active partners in building a more sustainable future. Dr. Amal Abdulrahim, Assistant Undersecretary for the Support Services Sector and Chief AI and Innovation Officer at MOCCAE, attended the final presentations and awards ceremony, emphasising the importance of equipping youth with the expertise and platforms to shape environmental outcomes.
The initiative attracted approximately 160 applications from students across public, private and technical schools throughout the UAE. Seven projects advanced to the three-day development programme, where participants refined their proposals through intensive mentoring sessions and expert guidance focused on strengthening problem definitions, enhancing AI integration, and assessing feasibility and scalability.
Winning Solutions
First place was awarded to ‘NAWA’, developed by Abdulrahman Al Awadhi, Mohammad Al Attar and Hamdan Al Awadhi of Dubai National School – Al Barsha. The application encourages students to collect and document recyclable materials through a digital platform, earning points, badges and rewards whilst establishing competitive rankings to cultivate recycling as an everyday practice.
Second place went to ‘Agri-Compass’, created by Mahra Hamdan Al Qaidi and Fatima Dawood Al Qaidi of Zayed Educational Complex – Al Saf in Kalba, Sharjah. This project harnesses soil data, sensor readings and artificial intelligence to recommend crop varieties suited to individual farm conditions, enabling farmers to make evidence-based planting decisions.
Third place was awarded to ‘ASL’, developed by Hafsah Alhashimi and Joud Almuhaidib of Deira International School. The proposal explores fermentation combined with AI to produce protein locally for animal feed, reducing the UAE’s dependency on imported feed and strengthening national food security.
Sustained Support for Innovation
The Ministry is establishing a dedicated support pathway for winning teams, connecting them with mentors, technical experts, incubators and innovation partners. The MOCCAE intends to showcase these projects through its platforms and future initiatives, helping students advance prototypes, test solutions and increase their practical applicability whilst fostering a culture of environmental innovation and entrepreneurship amongst youth.
Source: WAM