Friends of the Environment Centre (FEC) honoured the winners of various competitions conducted in connection with World Environment Day (WED) 2013 at a function at Al Rayyan Theatre in Souq Waqif yesterday.

Around 90 students from various schools were awarded with certificates and mementos.

Held under the patronage of Dr Saif Ali al-Hajari, chairman of FEC, many competitions, had been arranged to mark WED 2013 which included painting, eco-fashion designing, and an ecological seminar among others. The contests were part of the efforts of FEC to foster enthusiasm on environmental education amongst the youth and general public.

Nasreen al- Hashmi, member of the FEC board of directors, who spoke on behalf of Dr al-Hajari, said everyone must think of their responsibilities towards environment.

She exhorted everyone to avoid the habit of wasting food and thereby contributing to the environment in a big way.

The painting contest for WED was open to all age groups, and the theme for this year’s competition was “I love Planet Earth.” There was also a workshop in connection with Environment Day which was open to teachers aimed at helping arts instructors in Qatar to find a deeper meaning and pleasure in visual arts using environment as their inspiration.

In addition, FEC also held an eco-fashion contest to raise awareness on the environment protection and it was open to creative fashion enthusiasts starting eight years and above. There was also a seminar related to the WED 2013 world-wide theme – ‘Think. Eat. Save entitled Healthy Eating for a Healthy Planet’

Representing the sponsors of the event Abeer al-Kalla, head of PR and Communication, alkhaliji bank; and Katia Abooud Saba, head of PR at Oryx GTL, spoke. The other supporters of the event were Ooredoo, Faber-Castell, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, and ILoveQatar.net.

During a two hour long programme, there were a number of artistic presentations. The highlight of the event was a fashion show by noted fashion choreographer Utsav Dholakia who was specially flown in from Mumbai for the event. The programme was organised by International Academy for Intercultural Development (IAID).

 

 

A fashion show held at the event. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed