Green and Happy – GSA ’21 Awards Ceremony

The Gulf Sustainability Awards ’21 has ended. So let’s recap on our Awards Ceremony!

This year, for the first time in 18 months, we were able to organise both the Awards Finals and the Awards Ceremony in-person once more! More than 150 people came to Jumeirah Creekside hotel in Dubai, all in good spirits, happy that we’re face to face again!

The day started with the finalists’ presenting their initiatives to our judging panel. At our Awards Finals, there were more than 80 presentations held and the judges scored them in secret.

In the afternoon, our host and Regional Manager for the Gulf region, Aleksandar Ilic, charmed the crowd with his energetic introduction at the start of the Awards Ceremony.

Next, we heard a speech from Sam Alawiye, the CEO of our Green sponsor, GreenParking. We travelled through time by listening to his motivational speech regarding a different understanding of sustainability. As a man with outstanding results and more than 25 years of experience, he left his listeners with a greater understanding of practical sustainability.

Our next speaker was no less impressive. Renata Liuzzi, our partner from Axis Partners, took the stage and reminded everyone present of the significance of innovation. She explained that dedication and belief in our plans is crucial, motivating us with a simple message – we should always keep in mind to focus on what we WILL do and not what we might do. She then introduced her Masterclass to the audience, a practical course that uses real world examples of successful innovation. This training is based on analysing more than 200 real case studies and proven business practices.

We moved on to planting the indigenous Ghaf trees in collaboration with our media partners, Goumbook, to symbolically contribute to the restoration of the wildlife in the region. We’re always happy to land a hand to Goumbook with their Green ideas.

As the evening drew to the end, there was an outburst of emotions! Tensions were high and the the energy levels were through the roof as we announced our GSA ’21 winners. This year, we had 16 categories. To see the winners of each category, click here. We would like to thank all our finalists and remind them that being a finalist at the Awards is a victory in its own way.

To see how it was at Awards Ceremony, check out the Galery.

The overall winner of the Gulf Sustainability Awards ’21 is… Majid AL Futtaim Hotels. Massive congratulations on their hard work. Enjoy your victory, you’ve earned it!

And thus we’ve come to the very end of the Gulf Sustainability Awards ’21. There’s always a dash of sadness when good things come to an end, but just like in nature – the end of this cycle just means that another one is beginning soon!

On behalf of the Awards International Dream Team, we are proud to have had you with us on this occasion. We hope that memories from the event will bring a smile to your face, as it will certainly make us smile. Goodbye until next year!