Strong focus on sustainability in the Middle East

Abu Dhabi is a prime example of urban areas in the Middle East that are taking significant steps in order to make urban environments more sustainable and create forums for sustainable innovation. For instance, Abu Dhabi recently hosted the annual event Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week featuring a wide range of conferences and arrangements.

With more than 30,000 attendees and 800 exhibiting companies, the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is the largest gathering on sustainability in the Middle East and a significant forum for stimulating the international dialogue and action.

Water cooling with sewage

Through a range of presentations and participation in various panel debates within areas like energy, water and waste, experts from Ramboll left a mark on especially two of the biggest events at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week; the World Future Energy Summit and the International Water Summit.  

Furthermore, Ramboll's International Water Director Søren Hvilshøj participated in an expert judging panel awarding new and innovative solutions within water and wastewater. One of this year's Innovate@IWS 2015 awards went to the company Thermowatt for a new solution using sewage for cooling purposes.

"Due to shortage of water, especially in warm and dry places like Abu Dhabi and other emirates, there is a growing need for innovative water solutions. Water cooling might be sustainable in many ways – especially if we can reuse water of a lower quality than groundwater which is a very scarce resource," says Søren Hvilshøj.

Ramboll was part of the Danish Pavilion together with State of Green and many conference attendees showed a great interest for the Danish and Nordic approach to sustainability and liveability.  

The world's most sustainable urban area

In addition to conference concepts like the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, many sustainability oriented urban planning projects are currently being realised in both the Emirates and surrounding countries. One of the most ambitious projects is Masdar City. The Masdar City project aims to realise one of the world's most sustainable urban areas and Ramboll is a part of the project where we deliver a conceptual landscape design.

Other examples of sustainability-oriented projects include an aquifer investigation project in the Dubai Emirate and an urban planning project in the Emirate of Fujairah where Ramboll is developing an innovative masterplan.