BUE, UNDP organize largest climate marathon in Egypt’s history in Oct.

BUE, UNDP organize largest climate marathon in Egypt’s history in Oct.
18 / 09 / 2022
By Marwa Nassar - -

The British University in Egypt (BUE) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) partnered to organize the largest university climate marathon in Egypt – “Run for the Climate” on October 14, 2022 – with the participation of thousands of university students nationwide.

Registration for the run and all parallel events is open free of charge for youth, families, professional athletes, and advocates of the climate cause.

BUE President Professor Mohamed Loutfi has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cairo Runners to launch the marathon.

 The event is in partnership with the UNDP and under the patronage of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and is set to take place at the British University in Egypt campus in El-Shorouk.

The marathon is scheduled to inaugurate the Climate Week at the University, which comes as part of the University’s role in the United Nations Climate Summit COP27 that will be held in Egypt in November 2022, and as a commitment to the University’s social responsibility as a partner in achieving the sustainable development goals in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030.

More than 8000 students from Egyptian universities and youth from all over Egypt are planned to participate in  the event, in a non-precedent run in terms of number of participants, and the first in terms of diversity of artistic and cultural activities accompanying the event.

The run is accompanied with an open-air art exhibition by  students and local artists addressing the climate challenge, in addition to a green bazaar for start-up companies, initiatives, and student projects that contribute to raising awareness about the climate cause, and  achieving  positive  community engagement in climate change solutions; in addition to empowering more youth in different areas of the sustainable development goals.

Professor  Mohamed Loutfi of the BUE said “signing this protocol would enable the university to implement more activities that support the topic of climate change, coinciding with holding COP 27 in Egypt and Africa for the first time, and the university’s belief in implementing the sustainable development goals(SDGs), as the University partnered with many local and international institutions and organizations to go in line with the efforts done to combat climate change and raise awareness about its challenges.”

Professor Loutfi added “The university has launched unique student activities to help our students become more aware of national and international environmental, economic and development burdens and makes them more prepared to become global citizens capable of proposing solutions and engaging with their communities to improve the quality of life in different capacities, as young people play an important role in the development process; as they are the future generations and this is an important part of the university’s strategy, as the British University in Egypt the first university in the country to commit itself to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and incorporate them in our teaching, learning, research, students activities, and community service.

Dr. Amr Seda, the university’s strategic transformation leader and associate professor at the Faculty of Economics, Political Science and Business Administration at the British University, said that many university students are unaware of the risks of climate change, which justifies organizing this event. Added that by empowering students and making them more aware of the risks associated with climate change, will help them be part of the solution for a better future for the generations to come.

Abdullah Hussein, Founding Partner of the Cairo Runners Group, said that the goal of this cooperation is to collectively share visions and goals to maximize the benefit of the capabilities of both parties to provide sports services with societal and development dimensions that contribute to achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030, and the marathon highlights the role of sports in development.

 

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