Sustainability Goal!

Feature

July 1, 2018, 12:41 pm

“We aimed to have an event that is as environmentally friendly as possible. From choosing the right venue, to having filtered water dispensers and biodegradable cups available for visitors and reusable bottles for teams to avoid single use plastic bottles.”

The Global Goals World Cup is an international initiative to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Global partners are EIR Soccer, UNDP, UNGC, Save the Children and the Government of Denmark.

Sustainable Mindz, a Dubai-based Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility consulting and provider, hosted the GGWCup in UAE and the region for the first time.

This initiative focused on empowering young girls and women around the world. It is an open women’s soccer, spectator friendly, five a side tournament designed to leverage the power of sport to engage women to achieve the SDGs. Our strategic partners locally included the UNGC UAE, UN Women, UAE Football Association, Royal Danish Embassy and the Celebrity Ambassadors are Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Hollywood) and John Abraham (Bollywood).

“We were honored to be part of the events and initiatives in the UAE and internationally designed to commemorate the memory of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, showcase his impact and legacy, and promote the values that he displayed throughout his life in creative and interactive ways,” says Dima Maaytah Founding Partner of Sustainable Mindz.

The GGWCup UAE is aligned with the Sustainability theme of the Year of Zayed, and consistent with the values of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE who was an avid believer that sport improves lives, empowers women, and breaks down barriers between people and nations.

“We had 168 women who formed 23 teams that played for SDGs. We had 10 corporate teams, 5 university teams, and 8 teams from community SDGs advocates (all teams worked on projects related to their chosen SDG, they all did presentations on the 18th),” says Maaytah.

“The UN Sustainability Goals give a clear direction towards what must be achieved to ensure a better future. By empowering each other, women can shape and achieve this future

They had a team representing the UAE Women’s National Football Team supported by their Coach Ms. Houriya Al Taheri (the first Emirati coach) who participated as a referee and a Dream Team member,” she says.

“We aimed to have an event that is as environmentally friendly as possible. From choosing the right venue (Sustainable City) to having filtered water dispensers and biodegradable cups available for visitors and reusable bottles for teams to avoid single use plastic bottles,” she added.

All decorations used were either handmade from household waste or printed in a manner that makes it reusable at various events. All waste generated was segregated and recycled including food waste.

Medals and trophies presented to the winning teams were also sustainable. The solar powered medals designed by artist Olafur Eliasson symbolising the bright light of hope for a better and sustainable future. And the very unique UAE Tournament Trophy named Mother Earth, was made of recycled wood and construction waste by the artist Hayan Maani.

Social media reach for both Instagram and Twitter was over 4,000,000 (we have analyzed both hashtags GGWCupUAE and 100DaysofSDGAction) and 8+ new social media accounts have been created by individuals and groups as a result of this campaign in support of specific SDGs.

Sustainable Mindz works with businesses to implement effective CSR strategies, and supports them in achieving sustainability goals. “Because we provide specific and independent technical advice, we are able to achieve a broader view of environmental and social projects and operations, and balance the needs of businesses, communities and other stakeholders,” says Maaytah.

The Sustainable Mindz team works with to determine what direction and approach a company should take to manage CSR most effectively, through evaluating organizational performance and setting SMART CSR and Sustainability related targets and KPIs.”

They also help businesses with sustainability reporting. From data collection and stakeholder engagement, to developing a full CSR and sustainability reports that meet stakeholder requirements.

“Passion for sustainability and CSR isn’t enough. Get the training and skills your team needs to enable them and advance sustainability in your organization,” says Maaytah.

Photo Credit – http://ggwcup.com/