Community dialogue and open climate change dialogue converge at Obour Institutes

Obour Institutes (Obour Higher Institute for Management, Computers and Information Systems – Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology in Obour) participates with the open dialogues on climate change in Community Dialogue No. 12, which comes during the month of October with the celebration of World Food Day for this year 2023 AD.

The meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Abdullah Al-Dahshan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Obour Institutes, Professor Dr. Magdy Zhou, Dean of the Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology in Obour, Prof. Dr. Sherine Zahran, Executive Director of the Capacity Building and Research Unit at the Institute, Professor Dr. Mohamed Farag, Dean of the Obour Higher Institute for Management, Computers and Information Systems, Professor Dr. Nashaat Edward, and Professor Dr. Kamal Sheil, Director of the Obour Center for Training and Education (ATEC), and a group of institute leaders, including faculty members, and a large number of students.

The seminar was honored by the presence of Prof. Dr. Fawzy El-Essawy Younis, professor and head of the Regional Physiology Unit at the Desert Research Center, and trainer of climate ambassadors for Egypt and Africa, in coordination with the Faculty of Environmental Studies, Ain Shams University, before COP27.

Carbon footprint trainer for entrepreneurship after COP28 in cooperation with the National Quality Institute and director of open dialogues on climate change in Egypt in cooperation with the Foundation for Open Dialogues on Climate Change in the European Union after COP27 to COP28.

This comes from the societal role of the Obour Institutes, over the course of eleven previous community dialogues, with the aim of activating the societal role aimed at serving society and developing the environment, in cooperation with bodies, institutions, and public figures socially, economically, and environmentally influential in civil and academic society.

The talk was started by Prof. Dr. Abdullah Al-Dahshan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Obour Institutes, welcomed the distinguished guests and emphasized the keenness of the Obour Institutes to participate with civil society in developing its annual plans in line with Egypt’s 2030 vision for sustainable development.

The community dialogue witnessed three main sections:

– With regard to the strategic plan for the transit institutes, Dr. Wael Fouda (Executive Director of the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Unit at the Institute of Management) was present in formulating the vision and mission of the Obour Institutes with the proposed strategic plan for the institutes and what was implemented with the Obour Institutes’ vision of the institution’s core values.

– As Alfi Prof. Dr. Magdy Hosni (Deputy for Community Service and Environmental Development at the Institute of Engineering) shed light on the institute’s community service and environmental development plan, emphasizing the axes and objectives of the plan and the activities that emerged from it that serve the surrounding community.

– As confirmed by A.M.D. Sherine Zahran (Director of the Research and Capacity Development Unit at the Institute of Engineering) on the research axes of the institutes and the achievements made related to applied research that aims to serve the surrounding community.

The attendees also participated in the open dialogue on climate change and linking the three Rio agreements. Dr. Fawzy El-Essawy Younis, Professor and Head of the Regional Physiology Unit at the Desert Research Center, where Dr. Fawzy stressed the importance of activating cooperation in raising awareness of environmental issues with the necessity of linking civil society institutions and scientific and governmental institutions in Obour City.

Ali pointed out the mechanism for activating this through establishing the Environmental Club and also drawing attention to the importance of International celebrations such as World Food Day (celebrated on October 16 of each year) and its slogan for this year 2023: Water is Life, Water is Food, and Leave No One Behind.

• Prof. Dr. added: Tamer Makki (researcher at the Remote Sensing Center) stressed the importance of having a marketing unit in the institutes to identify the problems of the surrounding factories and work to solve them through applied research carried out by the Obour Institutes. In this regard, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Qader

(Chairman of the Entrepreneurship and Joint Cooperation Committee) stressed that one of the committee’s goals is to work to connect researchers with industry representatives in order to cooperate in finding solutions to various environmental and industrial problems.

Major General Engineer Mahmoud Badawi (advisor to the international thermal insulation company Rocal) added

the need for scientific research to contribute to the disposal of industrial and household waste.
It has been noted; that the goal of World Food Day is to deepen public awareness of the suffering of the hungry and undernourished in the world.

More importantly, to encourage people in various parts of the world to take measures to combat hunger. To date, there are 150 countries that celebrates this occasion every year.

The United States alone, sponsors more than 450 national volunteer organizations in the « World Food Day » sector.

There are, a multitude of community-based groups that are actively and passionately involved in the hunger crisis.

Lastly, one of the many incentives in celebrating « World Food Day » is the underlying parallels it holds in relation to climate change and its ability to open those community dialogues.

The various dialogues are:

1. Increase public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world.

2. Encouraging greater attention to agricultural production in all countries, and making greater efforts at the national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental levels to achieve this purpose.

3. Encouraging the transfer of technology to third world countries.

4. Strengthening international and national solidarity in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and drawing attention to the achievements achieved in the fields of food and agricultural development.

5. Encouraging the participation of the rural masses, especially women and the most disadvantaged groups, in making decisions and activities that affect their living conditions.

6. Encouraging economic and technical cooperation between developed and developing countries to allow achieving sustainable development goals.