Water is the foundation of all life on Earth. It is central to sustainable development, thriving ecosystems and the survival of humanity. Yet, this most precious resource is ﬁnite and must be used and consumed wisely. Many of the most pressing challenges our world is facing, such as climate change, food security or conﬂict, are linked to water and can only be solved through adequate water governance, integrated resource management, and cooperation.
The annual global World Water Day invites the world to celebrate the importance of water, exploring the various dimensions in which humans interact with water and sparking conversations on how we can reimagine our relationship with water. The World Water Day at Expo 2020 Dubai explores how we can improve the sustainable use and consumption of water and preserve water resources for future generations through innovation, activism, governance, and behavioral change. Everyone has a role to play in protecting our most precious resource and the World Water Day spotlights this through storytelling, discussions with thought leaders and experts.

Water is Life

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Celebrating and exploring the importance of water and how we interact with it, and sparking conversations on how we can reimagine our relationship with this precious resource.

The Nexus for People and Planet

Located in the heart of the Opportunity District, the Nexus for People and Planet serves as the home for Expo 2020 Dubai's Programme for People and Planet, hosting a number of engaging events and talks that highlight some of the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time.

Nexus for People and Planet

Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment speaks during the World Water Day - Flagship at Nexus m67211

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Zoe Haseman, Global Head of Sustainability, Jacobs speaks during the World Water Day - Flagship at Nexus m67215

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Co-curated with the UAE Minister of State's Office for Food and Water Security and UN Water, Expo 2020 Dubai celebrates World Water Day exploring different ways in which water resources can be reserved. This year's theme is "Making the Invisible Visible".

World Water Day

World Water Day 2022

Water fuels our sustenance but also moves money, goods and people around the world, provides a valuable source of renewable energy, and enables the world’s food to grow. This week will help us understand how to preserve and sustainably manage this precious finite resource for infinite uses. The programme will highlight the true value of water, as well as progress and best practice in ensuring clean and adequate water for people, industry and the planet.

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 How will we protect our most precious resource today, for tomorrow?

Water Week 

Expo aims to deliver one of the most sustainable World Expos in history, supporting the UAE in its journey towards a green economy. Sustainability is integrated across both our operations and programming, embracing every opportunity to create meaningful impact, and inspiring the global community to play an active role in becoming part of a sustainable future.

The Live in Balance track of Expo 2020 Dubai's Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series and experiences that spotlight our relationship with the natural world, and position Expo as a critical catalyst for restoring balance with our planet.

Restoring Balance with our Planet

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Live in Balance

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This Chat Plays show takes you on a journey through the Opportunity District. We see how different pavilions - Vietnam and Sri Lanka - tackle this Expo sub-theme, although we need to unlock a few secrets to keep exploring and you, the audience, determine how we move forward! We finally unlock Mission Possible - The Opportunity Pavilion! Earn points and top the leaderboard, win badges and reveal treasures. Your points convert to Seeds of Change which you can pledge to the cause of your choice. Enjoy watching the show and create a Twitch account to join the chat and earn points! Photosensitivity warning: Some areas in Live@Expo broadcasts may feature bright flashing effects that may affect photosensitive viewers.

 Ep 6: Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Mission Possible - The Opportunity Pavilion

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Explore Expo 2020's Opportunity District pavilions - Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Mission Possible - showcasing our human potential to better ourselves and the world around us. Enjoy the show!

Explore Mission Possible - The Opportunity Pavilion after defeating STATIC and the forces of ennui.

Join our guide on a tea tasting at the Sri Lanka Pavilion.

Watch an incredible performance on bamboo instruments from Vietnam.

Create a Twitch account to join the chat and earn points!

Interactive, chat-driven tour co-curated by the you, the audience.

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Vietnam Image Gallery

The fog-wreathed mountains and vibrant green rice paddies of Vietnam are places of deep tradition, housing ancient temples, centuries-old villages and a wealth of unique cultural history. The Vietnam Pavilion aims to reintroduce visitors to the nation’s rich heritage and highlight its investment potential. Explore traditional folk-art performances, bamboo flute concerts and delightful water-puppet shows, take a 3D digital tour of Vietnam’s vibrant tourism destinations and discover a bounty of culture and cuisine at the pavilion’s handicraft shop and restaurant.


Vietnam

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Vietnam Pavilion

Sri Lanka

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This South Asian island was once known by the name Ceylon, and that namesake tea is still grown in plantations across Sri Lanka. Taste this fragrant, world-famous drink at the Sri Lanka Pavilion, which leads you through many of the country’s enticements, from hiking rainforest peaks to lounging on tropical beaches to trekking ancient ruins. Then learn about Sri Lankan culture and economic innovations. The eye-catching water theme was designed by students from the University of Moratuwa, using the sinuous flow of water to evoke the country’s adaptability and ability to transform challenges into opportunities.  


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Sri Lanka Pavilion

Mission Possible - The Opportunity Pavilion - Audio Guide

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Expo 2020 envisions a future where every human can meet their basic needs for water, food and energy. At The Opportunity Pavilion, you will embark on a globe-spanning “Mission Possible” to help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, showing how everyone has the power to make a difference.

From your “mission briefing” onward, you will connect with three inspiring people in their quests to unlock opportunity. They will take you to their communities in the UAE, Peru, and Zanzibar and – through storytelling and gameplay – you will learn how small actions have a big impact.


Three unique tracks that transport you to UAE, Peru and Zanzibar

Inspiring “mission” to unlock opportunity across the world

Amphitheatre and co-creation spaces for workshops, forums and more

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Mission Possible

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Mission Possible 360 

This striking pavilion consists of a low-slung, earth-toned brick façade topped with a dozen translucent mesh and metal structures that resemble boxy clouds carefully balanced on one another. It builds on the rich urban history of the plaza and its universal significance as a place for people to connect.

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Building connections

 The Opportunity Pavilion

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Live@Expo Ep 6: Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Mission Possible - The Opportunity Pavilion

Welcome to an interactive live tour where you and a community of virtual visitors from around the world control where the guide goes and what you see! Earn points and top the leaderboard, win badges and reveal treasures. Your points convert to Seeds of Change which you can pledge to the cause of your choice.

Live@Expo

Join a new virtual tour of the Expo! You control where the guide goes as they explore Expo 2020.

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Women are frontrunners in climate awareness, a result of their energy-efficacy consumption patterns and daily habits; their carbon footprint is 20% smaller than that of men. The extended connection between the women and planet means that they possess specialized knowledge of various local and neglected species. Research shows that nations where women have higher political status tend to have lower CO2 emissions per capita, and yet women only comprise less than 30% of world’s climate and biodiversity researchers.

This event will spotlight ways in which we can ensure women’s participation and leadership in environmental governance. In addition, it will explore how we can record, distribute and celebrate women’s knowledge and contribution to biodiversity conservation.

Women are the “greener” gender and yet they are too often under-recognized.

Women’s Pavilion Programme | Women’s World Majlis: Mother Nature First Defenders: Women Leading the Fight to Save our Planet

Thought leaders and changemakers discuss how women are leading the fight to save our planet. 

WWM Climate Session Agenda 270921

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Biodiversity Conservation through a Gender Perspective

Interactive Q&A with Global Thought Leaders

Inside Expo: The Brave Women

Women's Pavilion - Audio Guide

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Women's Pavilion Image gallery

Women make tremendous contributions to the world, yet many remain unknown or forgotten. The Women’s Pavilion in collaboration with Cartier at Expo 2020 challenges this imbalance by taking visitors on a journey through the remarkable achievements of women across the globe. Our showcase underscores the principle that “When women thrive, all of humanity thrives”.

The pavilion showcases the exceptional accomplishments of women, world-famous and unknown. Immerse yourself in the triumphs of women through history, discover the journeys women have taken to claim their equality and dive into the stories of the inspirational women shaping our future.


Globe-spanning tour of women’s achievements and ongoing challenges

Multisensory exhibition created by actor/artist Mélanie Laurent and Emirati artists

Majlis-inspired social space for live conversations and events

Women's 

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Reflecting the UAE’s commitment to women’s empowerment and gender equality, the Women’s Pavilion serves as a catalyst for social transformation, both in Dubai and far beyond. By championing exceptional women, it aims to inspire dialogue, shatter gender misconceptions, and leave a lasting legacy of positive change for women worldwide.

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inspiring change

Championing women, 

Women's Pavilion 

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Climate and Biodiversity Week to spur the world into action to protect our planet

We stand at the brink of a crucial moment in time - a moment in which we must take decisive collective action to protect our planet, and the life it sustains, for future generations. It is an opportunity for us to take our place in history as the generation that stepped up to halt climate change, and transform human activity to operate within Earth's planetary boundaries. 

Expo 2020 Dubai's Climate & Biodiversity Week convenes government decision-makers, business leaders, youth advocates and our millions of visitors to address the greatest challenge of our time and generate solutions critical to the future of our civilisation and the health of our planet. 

What's your Promise to our Planet?

Climate and Biodiversity

How do we work together to better manage climate change and protect biodiversity? 

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Insight Report from Climate and Biodiversity Week

Natural Resource and Biodiversity Conservation

Climate & Biodiversity Week

Her Excellency Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany is the Permanent Representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) since April 2018. Prior to this, she was Executive Director of Sustainability at Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, and the Director of the Zayed Future 
Energy Prize, the UAE’s annual global awards for renewable energy and sustainability. She also served as the Deputy Director General of the Emirates Diplomatic Academy (EDA).
She sits on several advisory boards and panels, including those of National Geographic, the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines, the Momentum for Change initiative of UNFCCC, and Sustainable Energy for All’s (SEforALL) Leadership Council, a group of global leaders with the mission to accelerate action on SDG7 and the Paris Climate Agreement.

Nawal Al Hosany

Permanent Representative of the UAE, International Renewable Energy 
Agency (IRENA), UAE 

H.E. Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany

Christiana Figueres is an internationally recognized leader on global climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Assuming responsibility for the international climate change negotiations after the failed Copenhagen conference of 2009, she was determined to lead the process to a universally agreed regulatory framework. She directed the successful Conferences of the Parties in Cancun 2010, Durban 2011, Doha 2012, Warsaw 2013, and Lima 2014, and culminated her efforts in the historical Paris Agreement of 2015. She brought together governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and communities of faith, think tanks and technology providers, NGOs and parliamentarians, to jointly deliver the unprecedented climate change agreement.

Christiana Figueres

H.E. Natasa Pilides was appointed Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry on July 10th 2020. Previously, on March 1st 2018 she had been appointed as the first Shipping Deputy Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, heading the strategic development and promotion of Cyprus as a world class, integrated, maritime cluster. From April 2016 to March 2018, Ms Pilides was Director General of the 
Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (Invest Cyprus), responsible for the design and implementation of Invest Cyprus’ strategy in investment promotion, investor support and facilitation of reform.

She graduated from Oxford University with a first-class honours degree, with distinction, in Modern Languages and Literature (French and Italian). 

Natasia Pilidou

Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Cyprus

H.E. Natasa Pilides

A lawyer by training, Alexandra specialized in human rights. She began her career at a law firm and then worked for Amnesty International in Germany and at organizations specializing in diversity, change management and sustainability. In 2012, she joined L’Oréal as Chief Sustainability Officer and launched L’Oréal’s first sustainability program, with a set of objectives to be achieved by the end of 2020. In 2017, Alexandra was appointed Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, becoming the Executive Vice President of the Foundation L’Oréal in addition to her role as head of the Sustainability Department. She became a member of L’Oréal’s Executive Committee two years later. In June 2020, L’Oréal launched its new sustainability program for 2030, L’Oréal for the Future.  

 

Alexandra Palt

Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, L'Oréal; Executive Vice President of Foundation L’Oréal


Dr. Reem Al Mealla is the Research Manager at the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (DANAT) and a marine biologist by profession. She is the first Bahraini woman field ecologist and holds a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Essex (UK) & a MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London (UK). She was awarded the Abel Imray Award (joint) from the University of Essex for the best outstanding research project of the year 2010 in an ecological based project and the M.E.I (Motivational. Empowering and Inspiring) Women's Award in 2017 by the University of Essex in celebration of International Women's Day. She specialises in coral reef ecology and has over 10 years of field research experience in tropical and sub-tropical environments.  

Reem Al-Mealla

Research Manager, Bahrain Institute for Pearls & Gemstones DANAT


Dr. Reem Al-Mealla

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has become one of the leading conservationists and scientists working to save the critically endangered mountain gorillas of East Africa. She is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conservation through Public Health (CTPH), a 18-year-old non-profit organization that promotes conservation by improving the quality of life of people and wildlife to enable them to coexist in and around protected areas in Africa. She also founded a social enterprise – Gorilla Conservation Coffee to support farmers living around gorilla habitats. 

She became a National Geographic Explorer in 2018 and is on the Women for Environment Leadership Council – Africa. She has recently been listed in the Avance Media 2021 100 most influential African women.

Gladys Kalema

Environmentalist and Founder, Conservation Through Public Health, Uganda

Dr. Gladys Kalema

McCloskey is the director of CASE, an industry-led sustainable energy research centre that bridges the gap between industry research needs and traditional academic research offerings. CASE provides access to research funding for industrial partners in Energy Systems, Bioenergy and Marine Renewables.

Sam McCloskey

Director, Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy, UK

Women’s World Majlis: Mother Nature's First Defenders: Women Leading the Fight to Save our Planet

Back in 2015, United Nations unveiled the Sustainable Development Goals as a means to work towards a better future. Expo 2020 Dubai’s purpose embodies the two main pillars of these goals: sustainability and opportunity. The global COVID-19 pandemic has further proved the urgency of this global agenda. As this mega-event takes place, Expo 2020 Dubai will become the center of commitment and action in ensuring that no one is left behind. The Leave No One Behind Track of Expo 2020 Dubai's Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series that spotlight the importance of opportunity for all, gender equality and much more.

Catalysing Opportunity for All

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Leave No One Behind

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With the ever-increasing complexity of our world, fostering innovative societies can be part of the solution to addressing global challenges. Governments have an important role to play in widening the lens around innovation and implementing systems that generate robust and creative communities.

As innovation ecosystems mature, there are exciting opportunities to create truly innovative societies where all sectors—governments, corporations, NGOs, academia, entrepreneurs and individuals—collaborate to solve complex societal challenges.

Governments have an important role to play in fostering creative and collaborative communities. They can move beyond a narrow sector perspective and "innovation for innovation’s sake", towards enabling environments—systems and culture—where cross-sectoral innovation is applied to major challenges and produce "innovation for greater good".

Mission-driven approaches can provide us with valuable models through focused, time-bound, and cross-sectoral approaches to innovation. These models help us harness our collective knowledge to address complex challenges such as climate change, pollution, well-being, digital ethics, and clean energy for all, and could light the way forward.

Innovation Nation: Creating Innovative Societies to Solve Humanity’s Greatest Challenges

Inno Nation Feb 4

Organized with Spain, this is the first of two sessions discussing how societies create innovative solutions to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. Stay tuned for the next session taking place on February 15.

Session agenda - Innovation Nation (Session 1)

Creating a Cultural Renaissance

EXHIBITOR Magazine Announces World Expo Award Winners

EXHIBITOR Magazine's World Expo Awards

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The Spain Pavilion at Expo 2020 is an open, eco-friendly exhibition that seamlessly blends ancient heritage and cutting-edge innovation.

An airy ground floor features several small, naturally cooled plazas that are ideal for relaxing or snacking on tapas. Venture underground into aroomy basement, and you’ll explore a “forest of the future” filled with thought-provoking exhibits on Spain’s contributions to global sustainability.


Spain logo

Inspired by Spain’s age-old links to the Arab world, the Spain Pavilion takes the shape of a lively field of sheer, conical towers in hues of brick, orange, and saffron yellow. Visitors venture under this vast canopy of peaks, built from reusable materials including wood, iron and fabric, to explore a series of breezy plazas. The underside of each airy dome is decorated with unique textures that reflect their exhibits: swirls of woven straw, a green canopy of plants, falls of digital water, and more. One dome also shelters a tasty tapas restaurant.

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Saeed Al Saeed, Science and Technology Advisor, Ministery of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation UAE speaks during the World Majlis Innovation Nation at the Spain Pavilion m43247

Prof Javier Garcia Martinez, President of the International Union of Pure Chemistry, Spain speaks during the World Majlis Innovation Nation at the Spain Pavilion m43257

Oscar Di Montigny, Ideator of the Humanovability vision, Italy speaks during the World Majlis Innovation Nation at the Spain Pavilion m43250

Arun Sundaraajan, Harold Price Chair in Entrepeneurship stern school of Buisness, New York University, USA speaks during the World Majlis Innovation Nation at the Spain Pavilion m43249

Amin Gafaranga, Founder, Atelier Design-Thinking Academy, Rwanda speaks during the World Majlis Innovation Nation at the Spain Pavilion m43262

Alya Al Mazrouei, Director, UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, UAE speaks during the World Majlis Innovation Nation at the Spain Pavilion m43258

World Majlis | Innovation Nation: Session 1

Explore a series of exciting conversations inspired by the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai. The World Majlis is a vibrant forum where diverse points of views are shared on important topics of our time. Each conversation brings together globally recognised thought-leaders who are invited for their exceptional contributions to the theme and their unique perspective on the topic. In each Majlis, students and members of the public are also welcome to contribute and engage.

World Majlis

Conversations on complex issues that bring together thought leaders, visionaries and changemakers.

World Expos have always been meeting places for people across cultures and geographies; an opportunity to come together and celebrate human ingenuity and forge meaningful human connections. As the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, and with the participation of more than 192 countries, Expo 2020 Dubai looks to take this legacy even further. The Build Bridges track of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series and experiences that celebrate our common humanity and the vital connections that can help us prosper together as a worldwide community.

World Water Day

Water is Life

Image Gallery

Water Week .

This event is part of the
World Water Day 2022.

This event is part of the
Live in Balance.

Water is Life

Image Gallery

Water Week .

This event is part of theWorld Water Day 2022.

This event is part of theLive in Balance.

This event is part of the
World Water Day 2022.

This event is part of the
Live in Balance.