With a shared mission to advance and enhance youth learning opportunities around sustainability and the environment, Expo City Dubai has announced its collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots programme – a global environmental, animal welfare, and humanitarian youth outreach initiative.

This joint initiative demonstrates the commitment of Expo City Dubai, which recently hosted the COP28 climate summit, to protecting the environment and propelling human progress through collaboration and meaningful partnerships.

As part of the agreement, world-renowned ethologist Dr Jane Goodall will establish the region’s first permanent office of Roots & Shoots at Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion, which forms the heart of Expo City’s green education programmes. By working together, the initiative will help make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment – extending Dr Jane’s legacy and Expo City’s commitment to preserving our planet to the wider region and beyond.

Roots & Shoots UAE will be a hub for cooperation, building on Terra’s mission to put the climate at the forefront of everyone’s minds and leverage the Expo School Programme’s network to expand among Arabic and English public and private institutions. It will offer a range of interactive student workshops spanning tree-planting, beekeeping and habitat conservation within its inspiring grounds, as well as in schools and outdoors, while also providing valuable resources for teachers and hosting engaging, educational community events.

Marjan Faraidooni, Chief of Education and Culture, Expo City Dubai, said: “As an inclusive, action-oriented community and a hub for climate solutions, Expo City Dubai is committed to driving collaborative action to preserve our environment. Both Expo City Dubai and Roots & Shoots have already made an incredible impact, and our partnership reflects our shared mission to inspire and empower youth to become environmental stewards, with exciting learning opportunities beyond the classroom that enable young people to identify and take part in conservation efforts that make positive changes and ensure a brighter future for all life on Earth.”

Dr Jane Goodall DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, said: “Working in partnership with like-minded organisations like Expo City Dubai, we can create sustainable change and greater community engagement. We aim to involve more students from all backgrounds in Roots & Shoots so they may have a greater impact in addressing environmental and humanitarian challenges at local, national and international levels.

“Roots & Shoots is about hope. It is about choosing to make the world a better place, through projects that help people, the environment, and animals. It is encouraging young people of all ages to think about the environmental and humanitarian challenges in the world around them, and then roll-up their sleeves and do something to address them. This partnership with Expo City Dubai demonstrates a shared commitment to empowering students to make a positive impact on the planet.”

While in Dubai, Dr Jane will host the 2024 Roots & Shoots Awards, celebrating the achievements of schools and other youth and community groups from the region in helping people, animals and the environment. The prestigious ceremony, hosted at Terra on 23 January, will see nine award-winning schools present their work, with additional school activations providing more opportunities for young people to meet Dr Jane and participate in Terra workshops and tours, further inspiring them to take an active role in environmental conservation efforts.

At Al Wasl Plaza on 24 January – International Day of Education – Dr Jane will discuss the crucial connections between education, women's empowerment and safeguarding the environment, sharing her experiences as a primatologist and anthropologist with an audience that will include secondary school and university students and members of the public, who can register here.

Roots & Shoots, a key programme under the Jane Goodall Institute, is active across 60 countries and has involved more than one million young people in its youth programmes worldwide, with curriculums tailored to students of all ages. Participants are encouraged to identify and address challenges impacting people, animals and the environment within their communities.

Expo City Dubai, through its Expo School Programme, continues to engage students and educators through immersive tours, hands-on workshops and empowering initiatives, while at Terra, visitors of all generations can embark on interactive journeys where they see first-hand the impacts of humankind’s choices on the environment.

Photo caption (from left to right): Dr Jane Goodall DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace; Marjan Faraidooni, Chief of Education and Culture, Expo City Dubai; and Tara Golshan, Executive Director of Education, Dr Jane Goodall Institute.