The Center of Excellence for Innovation and Development (CEID) at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with “Janaeen Al-Iraq for Sustainable Development,” serving to establish a framework for collaboration in enhancing professional competencies and developing educational courses within the broad field of sustainability and development.
The MoC envisions working jointly towards integrating the principles of sustainability into both academic curricula and practical designs, establishing a general culture of social and environmental responsibility, and making information on water, energy, and other resource efficiency available to the public.
“One of our (functions) at CEID is to determine certain industries and fields where we can add value, support, and give better opportunities for employment and development,” said the CEO of AUIB’s CEID, Mr. Ziad Chaaban, naming the mitigation of climate change as one of those fields where the Center seeks to make significant impact through benchmarking, enhancing knowledge, and spreading awareness. “Today, we add to the basket of training programs that we offer new international certificate programs (in green architecture), all of which are in high demand in neighboring countries,” announced Mr. Chaaban, explaining that these new training programs are built in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council.
The CEO of “Janaeen Al-Iraq,” Dr. Husam Samir Abdulqadir, spoke on the construction boom in Iraq and in Baghdad in particular, pointing out the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability challenges this phenomenon entails, and the simultaneous lack of energy consulting services needed to meet these challenges, thus highlighting the importance and timeliness of his organization’s new partnership with AUIB.