Borealis renews its partnership with leading educational and social organisations in the UAE

Borealis announces that it has renewed its long-lasting commitment to supporting three leading social and educational organisations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Support will be made available through the Borealis Social Fund, which was founded in 2008. In 2022, a total of AED 3 million (approximately EUR 850,000) will be dispersed evenly among the Emirates Foundation, the UAE Paralympic Committee, and the Emirates National Schools (ENS). The signing ceremony attended by Borealis CEO Thomas Gangl and the representatives of each of the three organisations took place in Abu Dhabi on 27 October.

“For more than a decade, the Borealis Social Fund has been the vehicle with which to support the valuable and excellent work being carried out by these three important UAE institutions to promote education and social integration,” says Borealis CEO Thomas Gangl. “It is an honour for us at Borealis to be able to play a role in ensuring the success of these valuable and multifaceted programmes.”

Emirates Foundation and Borealis: recognising and supporting community resilience

As a national organisation dedicated to helping communities become more resilient, the Emirates Foundation focuses on three main areas of outreach activity: volunteering, capacity building, and encouraging healthy social behaviours.
Thanks to the support offered by the Borealis Social Fund, the Foundation has in 2022 steadily expanded its volunteering programmes in emergency response and disaster preparedness. Efforts to recruit and train certified volunteer responders paid off during the extreme weather conditions and flooding in Fujairah in July, which caused extensive damage. Emergency responders from the Foundation invested thousands of volunteer hours supporting the local authorities in implementing public safety and logistics measures.
The 26th World Volunteer Conference (WVC) taking place in October this year in Abu Dhabi will be hosted by the Emirates Foundation and co-sponsored by Borealis. Volunteers from around the world will come together to discuss the significance of volunteerism as a means of creating equal and inclusive communities, and to celebrate the heroic efforts of global volunteers during the COVID pandemic.
“We appreciate the continued support to the Emirates Foundation provided by the Borealis Social Fund,” says H. E. Ahmed Taleb Ali Al Shamsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation. “We look forward to another constructive year of collaboration and achievements, particularly in the area of volunteering.”

UAE Paralympic Committee and Borealis: fostering inclusivity and social integration

Founded to promote awareness of the special needs of the disabled, and to facilitate the full integration of people of determination into society, the UAE Paralympic Committee has been active as a national body since 1996. Means provided by the Borealis Social Fund help support preparatory training camps and other facilities for athletes competing at top international events. In the past year, UAE athletes have excelled in a broad number of disciplines, including wheelchair basketball, archery, cycling, Tae Kwon Do, and even skiing. Among this year’s many highlights, the UAE cycling team won five medals in its first appearance at an Asian championship in Tajikistan, and UAE male and female power weightlifters took home several gold and bronze medals at events in Asia.
“Our long-term relationship with Borealis has been an important factor in enabling people of determination to become successful competitors in many different sport disciplines, and on an international level,” says H. E. Mohammed M. Fadhel Al Hameli, Chairperson of the UAE Paralympic Committee. “We laud our athletes for their dedication to honing their talents through rigorous training and preparation, and recognise them as role models for achievement.”

Emirates National Schools and Borealis: ensuring a prosperous and sustainable future by elevating the importance of education today

Emirates National Schools provide a top-notch education grounded on Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards for pupils from kindergarten through grade twelve. With around 1,400 employees based at six separate campuses, ENS has a total current enrolment of more than 12,600. With a strong focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, ENS awards its graduates a high school diploma which enables them to continue their studies at prestigious post-secondary institutions around the world – and many of its graduates have done just that.

ENS has employed the means provided by the Borealis Social Fund to first implement (during the early days of the COVID pandemic) and now expand its virtual learning facilities and programmes. These include hands-on learning labs and studios, interactive pupil-instructor interfaces, and other digital tools which enhance the overall learning experience. This focus on innovation is reflected in activities such as the Personal Project Exhibitions, which allows students to showcase their own skills in project development, communication, and presentation, and to display best-practice examples of innovation across diverse categories such as sustainability and recycling, technology, science, and agriculture.

“As 21st-century educators, our ultimate aim is to design learning experiences that help our students become aware and engaged citizens of both the UAE and the world,” says Dr. Shawn L. Dilly, Director General of Emirates National Schools. “Support provided by the Borealis Social Fund has been an important factor in allowing us to provide our students with the education they deserve in order to excel in all their undertakings.”

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