The Minister of Education sponsors the opening of the First International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability at King Faisal University and affirms that the conference coincides with the launch of His Highness the Crown Prince of the Saudi Green and The Middle East Green initiatives.
His Excellency the Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sheikh, inaugurated today, Monday, the activities of the First International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability and the accompanying exhibition. The Conference is organized by King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa, in cooperation with its strategic partners, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and the Arab Organization for Education, Culture, and Science (ALECSO), in the presence of experts, international speakers, and a number of university presidents, officials, personalities, stakeholders, and specialists inside and outside the Kingdom.
The conference, which comes in line with the institutional research identity of King Faisal University, aims to study the reality of national, Arab, and international food security, its challenges, and ways to overcome them and build future strategies and policies that contribute to its development and achieve environmental sustainability.
His Excellency indicated that the conference coincides with the launch of His Highness the Crown Prince, the Saudi Green, and the Middle East Green Initiatives. The conference also comes in response to the global movement on critical strategic issues such as food security and environmental sustainability. These represent the most prominent goals of sustainable development, besides they are derived from the institutional identity of King Faisal University and its strategic partnerships with ministries, government and private agencies, and industrial sectors through local and international experiences, studies, and experiments.
The Minister of Education said, "The conference reflects the interactive role of universities and their scientific contributions to contemporary issues, as educational institutions that meet development and societal needs and have the desired qualitative impact." At the same time, he noted the various achievements of the education system and its various sectors, most notably the optimal response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the whole world, and the ability of the educational system in the Kingdom to overcome its repercussions and obtain praises from international organizations.
His Excellency added that the pandemic was an opportunity to highlight the ambitions of our educational system and its ability to transform its challenges into qualitative gains. This contributed to the continuation of the education journey in universities and the performance of their educational mission and the achievement of great progress in the field of scientific research and innovation, in addition to achieving advanced ranks in international rankings. His Excellency thanked King Faisal University, represented by its president and its employees, and to all strategic partners, organizing committees, speakers, and participating parties for their efforts to make this conference a success, hoping that it would achieve its hoped-for goals.
His Excellency the President of King Faisal University, Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali, delivered a speech in which he conveyed the university’s gratitude to the Minister of Education for his support and sponsorship for this conference. He also expressed the university’s pride in its success in investing in its close and strategic relationship with the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture as well as its partnership with the Arab Organization for Education, Culture, and Science (ALECSO).
His Excellency the Vice Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Eng. Mansour Al-Mushaiti also delivered the ministry’s speech on behalf of His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Agriculture, and Water. In his speech, he reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Water in the environment, water, agriculture and food security system in light of the challenges and repercussions left by the COVID-19 pandemic on the whole world and the success of overcoming them, with the support of the wise leadership. He also noted that the ministry has worked to employ innovative techniques to preserve vegetation and food cover in a manner that ensures the achievement of sustainable development goals in the Kingdom.
In the speech of the Arab Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), delivered on behalf of His Excellency the Director-General, the Director of Information, Communication Department of ALESCO, Dr. Mohammed Al-Jamni, praised the Saudi Green Initiative, and the Middle East Green Initiative launched by His Highness the Crown Prince to enable environmental sustainability in the Arab world.
After the speech ceremony, the Minister of Education inaugurated the Al-Ahsa Oasis for Innovation, which focuses its strategic activities towards supporting the food security and environmental sustainability systems in the Kingdom.
His Excellency also witnessed the signing of a number of agreements in the fields of research, advisory and community partnerships between King Faisal University and a number of strategic partners. His Excellency honored the strategic sponsors, supporters, and winners of the Food Security and Environmental Sustainability Hackathon.
Subsequently, the Minister of Education inaugurated the activities of the accompanying exhibition with the participation of relevant authorities from the governmental, private, and non-profit sectors to introduce their efforts and research and economic products in serving the areas of food security and environmental sustainability. In addition to the scientific exhibition (research posters), which includes the most prominent contributions of the university from research projects, achievements, and scientific studies in the field of food security.
After that, the activities of the conference sessions and workshops were launched, which included 6 scientific sessions and 4 specialized workshops on the topics of the conference.
