Prince Charles visits Masdar City

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, was today given a tour of Masdar City, where he took part in a Youth Circle organised by the Emirates Youth Council.

The visit was part of his three-country tour of the region, including Oman and Bahrain, which builds on the longstanding relationship between the UAE and the UK.

The Youth Circle, hosted outside the Masdar Institute Knowledge Centre, brought together young and talented professionals and students to share their hopes, ideas and concerns. On the topic of "Engaging and Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Future," the event provided a platform for youth-centric discussions on some of the most important challenges and opportunities facing the world today.

Youth Circles were established in line with the directives of the UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to inspire sustainable youth-centric dialogue across sectors.

Youth Circles are a platform to enable youth to express their opinions on societal challenges and policy matters, and to catalyse community impact and youth leadership.

Prior to the Youth Circle, Prince Charles toured Masdar City and Masdar Institute.

The tour was led by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of Masdar, Shamma Sohail Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Mohamed Al Ramahi, Masdar CEO, Dr. Behjat Al Yousuf, Interim Provost of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and the Masdar leadership team.

As part of the visit, The Prince of Wales was given an insight into Masdar’s growing portfolio of clean energy projects across the globe, including those in the UK: the London Array, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, and the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, which is set for production in the first quarter of 2017.

He also met with researchers from four Masdar Institute projects, highlighting the Institute’s leadership in sustainable technology research.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said, "The visit of HRH the Prince of Wales reinforces the strong bilateral ties between the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Prince Charles is a strong advocate for sustainable development and shares the same commitment as Masdar to advancing the adoption of clean energy globally. Masdar and HRH The Prince of Wales are united in the belief that the most effective sustainable solutions will come from collaboration and partnerships between the private and public sectors."

Shamma Sohail Al Mazrui said, "It was an honour to have Prince Charles championing an important priority for both the UAE and UK, namely youth and sustainability. Through engaging youth-led initiatives such as Youth Circles, the UAE is providing a valuable platform for youth to lead the global dialogue on sustainability, while in turn developing knowledge and human potential."

She added, "Youth are the ones who are inheriting tomorrow’s world, so it is imperative to integrate them into the global conversation on sustainability through platforms such as Youth Circles. Our generation will bring a young, fresh and creative perspective to problem-solving for a sustainable future."

Dr. Al Yousuf said, "The Masdar Institute is honoured to host HRH Prince Charles, who has been a champion for environmentalism for over 40 years. His visit, which adds to our growing list of visits from leading international royalty, shows the shared value of sustainability. Earth is our collective responsibility, which is why Masdar Institute strives to collaborate across borders with international partners to develop solutions and innovations to real-world sustainability challenges. Today’s Youth Circle event is also aligned with Masdar Institute’s focus on developing our young people into high-value human capital who will help lead the country’s knowledge economy transformation."

The Prince of Wales has had a long relationship with Masdar and the Masdar Institute.

In 2008, he gave a keynote address at the inaugural World Future Energy Summit, a conference held during the Masdar-hosted Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Prince Charles inaugurates Birmingham Quran Manuscript Exhibition in Al Ain

Prince of Wales has presented a digital replica of ancient Holy Quran fragments discovered by the UK's University of Birmingham, during his visit to the United Arab Emirates.

The copy of the manuscript is to be the centrepiece of the royal launch of the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Cultural Collaboration.

The original Quran fragment, possibly the oldest in the world, remains in the University of Birmingham and has been hailed as a major discovery.

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended the launch in Abu Dhabi Emirate's second city of Al Ain earlier this evening (Monday, 7th November).

In a written foreword for The Ancient Quranic Leaves exhibition catalogue, the Prince of Wales said, "As the British Patron of UK/UAE 2017, I could not be more delighted that the extraordinary Birmingham Quran Manuscript is being exhibited in the United Arab Emirates as a centrepiece of the year's events.

The University of Birmingham's find came when a manuscript which it had held since the 1920s was radio-carbon dated last year and found to be much older than anyone had expected.

The range of dates, established by tests carried out by the University of Oxford, showed that the manuscript was among the earliest surviving fragments of the Holy Quran and could be the oldest in existence.

The event in Al Ain is part of a year of collaborations promoting cultural and economic links between the UK and the UAE in areas such as the arts, education, sport and science.

It will also mark the symbolic return, at least in replica form, of a manuscript that was made in the Middle East in the earliest years of the Muslim faith.

An investigation into the likely origin of the Birmingham manuscript showed that it was related to a similar document held in Paris, which had been brought to Europe by a Vice-Consul of Napoleon.

The university's Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Eastwood, said that the Birmingham manuscript was of "huge significance to Muslim heritage and the academic study of Islam. It is my great pleasure to be supporting the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Creative Collaboration by curating the first digital exhibition of the Birmingham Quran manuscript."

Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, an educational foundation set up by the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said that he believes the pages discovered in Birmingham are from the first Quran commissioned by Abu Bakir Al Siddiq, the first caliph after the Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, who reigned between 632 and 634.

"I personally examined this ancient parchment. In my opinion, these fragments of the Holy Quran were neatly written on a special material and have been produced for someone important, such as the caliph," he said, in a report carried by the BBC News website.

Gavin Anderson, Director UAE at the British Council, said, "The UK and the UAE have a long history of collaboration and the preservation and display of this historic manuscript is the perfect example of how this collaboration continues to this day. We’re delighted to support the University of Birmingham to bring this exciting digital exhibition to Dubai and Abu Dhabi as part of UK/UAE 2017, our exciting new year of cultural collaboration.

"The purpose of UK/UAE 2017 is to strengthen creative collaborations between the UK and the UAE in order to give a greater focus, depth and contemporary relevance to the long standing relationship between both nations."

UK/UAE 2017 is a year of creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, organised by the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for education and culture, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Prince of Wales.

Throughout 2017, the British Council will collaborate with a wide range of British and Emirati partners to create a diverse programme that spans the arts, literature, education, society, sport, science and trade.

By exploring the ways in which the two nations' respective cultural heritage and contemporary creative expression inspire innovation in all sectors and all areas of society, UK/UAE 2017 will strengthen cultural and economic ties and identify major opportunities for future collaboration on both sides.

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