Dubai 31, October 2017 – The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Dubai International Award is meeting in Dubai from 30th October to 2nd November 2017 to undertake the first selection stage of the 11th round of the Award. Consequently, the ten-member Committee will submit their findings, which include a list of submissions to be reviewed by an international Jury and a report detailing their key findings to the Director General of Dubai Municipality on Thursday 2nd November 2018. The Jury will be held in Dubai in January 2018 to select the winners.

During the official opening of the TAC, Mr. Mohammed Al Mutawee (Assistant Director General for Communication and Community Sector, Dubai Municipality) and Ms. Åsa Jonsson (Chief, Best Practices Unit, UN-Habitat) acknowledged the efforts of UN-Habitat and Dubai Municipality in promoting best practice documentation and sharing, and called for enhanced cooperation towards the success of the award and its goals. Mr. Mutawee noted the significant increase in submissions for this round of the Award, which had not been as large since 2006, and encouraged a high-standard method of selecting winning practices. The award secretariat received 523 complete submissions, 291 more than the last cycle.

Recognition was also drawn to the Dubai International Award portal, which has been set up to make all application and evaluation procedures more efficient and paper-less. The system has broadly been applauded by both the submitters and the TAC for its easy to use interface.

Applications for the Dubai International Award for Best Practices concluded in 31 August 2017. The 2017 edition of the award seeks to recognize outstanding initiatives that are making valuable contribution to the sustainable development and New Urban Agenda. The award includes 10 awards divided into 7 sub categories: Best Practice award for National Urban Policies; Best Practice Award for Participatory Slum Upgrading; Best Practice Transfer Award in Local Implementation; Best Practice Transfer Award in Monitoring Mechanisms for the New Urban Agenda and the Urban SDGs; Private Sector Award for contribution to territorial planning, urban planning and design; Personal Award for contribution to urban economy and municipal finance; University Research Award on Legislation, Rules, Regulations & Governance Systems.

Targeting initiatives from all sectors, the Dubai Award recognizes practices which have contributed to improving the living environment and have resulted in: improving people’s quality of life; effective partnerships between the public, private and civic sectors of society; and social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability. The Award is open to all organizations and individuals undertaking development work, including governmental and non-governmental, private sector, research and academic institutions.

For more information, contact best.practices@unhabitat.org