The Ajman International Environment Conference Ajman kicks off today under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman.
The annual congress, the fifth in a row, is held at the Sheikh Zayed Centre for Conferences and Exhibitions, Ajman University, on March 06-07, 2018, in the presence of 70 high profile researchers and experts from over 30 countries.
The summit is to shed light on major environmental issues, spanning scientific solutions to reduce the effect of climate change in the UAE, sustainability in government housing in the country, and a line-up of environmental issues in the GCC states, Arab countries and the world.
Climate Change & Sustainability
Eng. Khalid Moeen Al Hosani, Executive Director of the Public Health and Environment Sector at the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, said the conference, themed: ‘Climate Change & Sustainability’, includes five major scientific sessions featuring 205 specialised scientific papers from a big number of renowned experts and lecturers from 49 countries all over world.
The first, chaired by Terrence Cooke, Director of Business Development, Science Target Inc., Canada, includes a keynote address on the ‘Climate Change and Smart Water Management’ by Prof. Banu Ormeci, Professor and Jarislowsky Chair in Water and Health, Director of Global Water Institute, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Canada.
An address on the ‘Solutions to Reduce the Effect of Climate Change in the UAE’ is to be delivered by Prof. Ali Sayigh, Chairman of WREC & Director General WREN, Chairman IEI and Med Green Forum, UK, while Prof. Nicholas Stow, Senior Planner in the Resiliency and Natural Systems Planning Unit at the City of Ottawa, in Ontario, Canada, Canada, is to lecture on ‘Resilience, Biodiversity, and Adaptation to Climate Change: the Ottawa Example’.
An address on the ‘Groundwater Management and Protection in Times of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities in the MENA Region’ is to be given by Prof. Ralf Klingbeil, Senior Expert Water, Environment, Sustainable Development -BGR – Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Germany.
Environmental Impact on the Desert
Eng Al Hosani said the second session is to feature an address on the ‘Assessing Environmental Impact of Climate Change on Desert Ecosystems: A Review’ by Latifa Saeed AlBlooshi, UAE University, UAE, while an address on the ‘Energy Performance Resilience of UAE Buildings to Climate Change’ by Kirk Shanks, The British University in Dubai, UAE.
Geraldine Seguela, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UAE, will shed light on a ‘Study to Assess Outdoor Water Evaporation in the Context of Alternative Water Reuse for Reducing Energy Consumption’ in a Medical Facility Case Study, Abu Dhabi, while Khaled Galal Ahmed, UAE University, UAE, is to talk about ‘Constructability of an Estidama and Building Codes Compliant SIP System in Adaptive Public Housing in UAE’.
An address on ‘The Political Economy of National and Energy Security: The Cases of the UAE and China’ will be presented by Panteleimon Sklias, American University in the Emirates, UAE, whereas David Gallacher, Zayed University, UAE, is to address the audience on the ‘High-Definition NDVI Sampling of Arabian Protected Areas to Assess Rangeland Condition’, and Issah M. Alhamad, Mechanical Engineering Department, UAE University, UAE, is to present a ‘Comparison between a Stand-Alone and Grid-Connected Roof Mounted PV Solar System under Abu Dhabi Net Metering Scheme Using HOMER.’
Sewerage
The third session, to span a number of important scientific papers, includes an address by Prof. Michael D’Andrea, Chief Engineer and Executive Director – Engineering & Construction Services – City of Toronto, Canada on ‘The City of Toronto’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy to Mitigate Urban Flooding’.
The ‘Ajman Sewerage System’ is to be featured in an address by Xavier Mathieu, Ajman Sewerage Company; Ajman, Ajman Emirate, UAE, while Prof. Vladimir Smakhtin, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH); Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is to talk about the ‘Unconventional Water Resources as Climate Change Adaptation Measure’.
Environment Policy in UAE
Jung Wan Lee, Boston University, USA, is to start the fourth session with an address on the ‘Environmental Best Practices, It Begins with Us: Business, Local Governments and International Community Should Work Together’, while Ahmed Mansour, UAE University, UAE, is to deliver an address themed; ‘In Search of Feasible Environmental Policy Making Tools in the United Arab Emirates: The Multi-Goal Approach.’
The ‘Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Perlite and Rubber Insulation Cement Mortar: Experimentally and Analytically’ is to be addressed by Ahmed Salem Al-Tamimi, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia, while the ‘Deficient Legislations Sanctioning Oil Spill and Gas Flaring in Nigeria; A Need for a Review of the Petroleum Industries Bill towards Better Environmental Regulation in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Sector’ is to be featured by Chukwuemeka Chuks-Ezike, Robert Gordon University, UK.
Abdul Salam Darwish, Phoenix renewable Energy Centre, UK, is to present an address on the ‘Renewable Energy Utilization – Aspects and Innovations: Sustainable, Green, and Smart Buildings in the Emirate of Ajman’, while Suzanna El Massah, Zayed University, UAE, is to deliver a lecture on ‘Achieving Sustainable Industrialization: Critical Analysis of Egypt’s Sustainable Industrial Development Strategy and Assessment of the Potential for EIPs’, and Sachin Mishra, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, India, is to give an address on the ‘Assessment of water quality of River Assi by using WQI’.
Diverse Environment Issues
Basam Dahy, UAE University, UAE, is to lecture on the ‘Assessing and Evaluating Above Ground Biomass (AGB) and Evaluating Carbon Sequestered Using Medium to High Resolutions Satellite Imagery’, while the ‘Use of Remote Sensing Data in Assessment Land Cover Changes, Land Use Patterns, and Land Capabilities in Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia’ is to be featured by Yousef Nazzal, Zayed University, UAE.
Tawfiq Couscuosy, UAE University, is to present an address on the ‘Environmental Ecological Modeling of Important Tree and Bushes in the UAE, while Ahmed Al-Mayahi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, is to talk about the ‘Current and Alternative Scenarios for Reducing Carbon Emission: A Case Study from Muscat Express Highway Lighting System’, and Deema Mohammad Abu Thiab, Consolidated Consultants Group CCG, Jordan, is to lecture on the ‘ Dibbin Transect Model: A New Framework for Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conversation into Land Use Planning’.
‘How to Build a Smart Climate City Conserving and Using Biodiversity’ is to be the theme of the address of Gabriela Teodorescu, Valahia University of Targoviste, Romania, while Rafika Farah Maulia, University of Indonesia, Indonesia, is to highlight ‘The Study of Product Obsolescence: Finding Optimal Lifespan of Electronic Product Using Game Theory Approach’, and Hameed Sulaiman, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, is to present an address on the ‘Municipal Solid Waste Composition and Greenhouse Gas Emission Potential from a Landfill – A Case Study from Muscat, Oman’.
An address on the ‘Simulations of Conjunctive Use with MODFLOW in Agricultural Region of Colorado River Delta, Mexico, is to be presented by Kedir Mohammed Bushira, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California(UABC), Mexico, while Madina Bekchanova, UNDP, Uzbekistan, is to talk about the ‘Mapping Cultural Ecosystem Services in Different Landscapes of the Uzbek Ugam Chatkal National Nature Park’.
Green Energy
Riadh H. Al-Dabbagh, Ajman University, Ajman, UAE, is to give an address on the ‘Green Energy is the future Energy’, while Sergiy N. Lavrynenko, National Technical University, "Kh.P.I.", Ukraine, to talk about the ‘Synthesis of Highly Efficient Sorbents Based on Copper and Cadmium Sulfides for Water Purification’, and Ayotuyi Tosin Akinola, Centre of Excellence, University of Zululand, South Africa, is to present an address on ‘The Design of Public Health Management System Information Control Based on Software Define Networking (SDN).
UAE Sustainable Development
Hilal El-Hassan, UAE University, UAE, is to give an address on the ‘Sustainable Development in the UAE Through Cement-Free Geopolymer Concrete’, while Lutfi Kawaf, University of Sharjah, UAE, is to talk about the ‘Predictors of recycling behavior: A survey-based study in the city of Sharjah, UAE’.
‘The Forest Heritage and Sustainable Development of Morocco (Cedar-Barbary Macaques): Is There a Link Between the Degradation of the Cedar Forest, the Barbary Macaques and Climate Change?’ is the theme of an address by Faical Boutlib, Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Morocco, while Basel Awni Natsheh, Palestine Technical University, Palestine, is to lecture on the ‘Green Fodder Production and Effect of Different Saline Water Levels Under Hydroponic Barley’.
David L. Thomson, Biology Department, UAE University, UAE, is to deliver an address on ‘The Ecological Impacts of Climate Change in Hot Regions: Can Nile Tilapia Adapt to Global Warming?’, while Farheen Khanum, ECOBUILD Sustainability and Renewable Energy Consultants, UAE, is to talk about Risk Assessment of Green Turtle Habitat through Geospatial Indicators A Case Study of Hawks Bay Beach, Karachi-Pakistan’.
Abdullah Al-Nadabi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, is to deliver an address on the ‘Protecting the Natural Ecosystems for Building Climate Resilient Cities as Carbon Sink’, while Mohamad Maulana, ICASEPS, Indonesia, is to lecture on ‘Comparing Social Costs of Conventional Rice Production System and System of Rice Intensification: A Case Study of Indonesia’.
Moustafa Fadel, UAE University, UAE, is to deliver a lecture on the ‘Development of Ornamental Plants Modules Based on Outdoor Hydroponics’, while Md Raihan Khan, Khulna University, Bangladesh, is to feature the ‘Impact of building setback on environmental sustainability: A study of leftover space of residential building in Khulna’, and Pabitra Maiti, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, India, is to present an address on the ‘Behaviour of Nuclear Power Plant Wall under Different Aircrafts’.