Expo 2020 Dubai unites world for People and Planet with 10 thematic weeks and 18 international days

The Expo 2020 has an extensive calendar of events and activities lined-up for people from all walks of life. This year, the Expo has stirred a growing excitement for its state-of-the-art architecture and progressive Artificial intelligence (AI) technology, although, these won't be the only things featured at the Expo site this coming October. In harmony with the Expo theme ‘Connecting Minds, creating a future’, the People and Planet Programme will be bringing light several issues faced by all of humanity.

Nadia Verjee, Chief of staff at Expo 2020 Dubai, said about the programme: “It will not only form an essential part of our event-time activities, but will also catalyse a one-of-a-kind movement to shape the legacy that Expo 2020 leaves the world, long after we close our doors, resulting in a meaningful and measurable impact for generations to come.”

Verjee manages the design of the Programme for People and Planet and is the custodian for 25 participating nations and international organisations.

What is the Programme for People and Planet?

It is a schedule of events, experiences, thought leadership and public conversations that aims to find solutions for some of the most pressing problems facing our world. The programme will run for the entire six months of the Expo, with more than 220 events to be held at the site.

With the inclusion of 10 Theme Weeks and 18 international days, the programme will explore key issues of global significance in large forums, public conventions, workshops and seminars. Participants will actively investigate solutions to universal challenges, ranging from mitigating climate change and making human habitat more sustainable to bridging the digital divide and ensuring equal access to education and healthcare.

Notable guest speakers to feature

Programme for People and Planet will be a platform for constructive dialogue between some of the world leading experts, business leaders, grassroot actors, the 191 nations participating at the Expo and the wider community.

A few notable experts will include wildlife advocate Dame Jane Goodall, Eden project founder Sir Tim Smit and  Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology – the woman behind the Emirates Mars Mission.

10 Theme Weeks at Expo 2020 Dubai

As a part of the programme, the Expo 2020 has introduced 10 thematic weeks to highlight the important subjects that have become necessary to address at an international level.

Celebrate 18 international days on Expo grounds

1. World Food Day on October 16, 2021: Dedicated to appreciate our most basic need and to raise awareness of the growing problem of hunger. On this day, rethinking and reshaping food security and food systems to ensure and sustain healthy lives will be at the forefront of dialogue.

2. World Cities Day on October 31, 2021: This day will focus on reinventing the future of cities and exploring how to collectively adopt an environmentally friendly recovery for more sustainable and livable urban environments.

3. International Day for Tolerance on November 16, 2021: The UAE’s is a leading model for cultivating a peaceful and multicultural country. On International Day for Tolerance, Expo has planned various activities to create a strong sense of cross-cultural understanding to promote coexistence and integration.

4. World Children’s Day on November 20, 2021: Expo 2020 will celebrate World Children’s Day by encouraging children to explore and find innovative solutions to challenges in an effort to construct a promising future. In addition, this day aims to highlight the challenges and potential opportunities for children in crisis.

5. International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, 2021: Expo will celebrate the achievements of inclusion, increasing accessibility and mobility and exploring opportunities and solutions for an inclusive future.

6. International Volunteer Day on December 5, 2021: Through celebrations and engaging dialogue, Expo will recognise the unsung heroes of communities across the world. The importance of volunteerism and the values of empowerment and giving back to society will be highlighted on this day.

7. Human Rights Day on 10 December, 2021: A celebration that focuses on facilitating access to service provision and the basic rights of every individual, inviting experts, though-leaders, youth, policymakers, innovators and changemakers to have vital conversation on the rights-based approach.

8. International Universal Health Coverage Day on December 12, 2021: Expo has hopes to encourage global action to reimagine healthcare systems and to move closer to a world in which everyone, everywhere, benefits from access to decent health care services.

9. World Arabic Language Day on December 18, 2021: This day will celebrate the beauty of the Arabic language and focus on boosting its use on a global scale - a way to encourage coming generations to cherish and cultivate their national heritage.

10. International Human Solidarity Day on December 20, 2021: Expo will encourage cooperation in solving international challenges of an economic, social, cultural and environmental character. This will be a day to inspire and instill solidarity.

11. International Day of Education on January 24, 2022: Expo’s celebration will aim to transform the dream of education into a meaningful reality. This day will focus on new opportunities and challenges that globalisation and digitalisation bring to education.

12. International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, 2022: Recognising leading women and girls in innovation, science and technology will be the highlight of this day’s events.

13. World Wildlife Day on March 3, 2022: The core objective of the day will be to engage visitors who will discover the importance of wildlife conservation and biodiversity for the progression of our planet.

14. International Women’s Day on March 8, 2022: International Women’s Day will shed light on the misconceptions and unconscious biases around women while also supporting the elimination of these stereotypes.

15. International Day of Happiness on March 20, 2022: A vibrant programme of discussions and activities across this day will address the importance of creating a more inclusive, sustainable and equitable world in order to achieve happier societies.

16. International Francophonie Day on March 20, 2022: Expo 2020 Dubai will celebrate this day by promoting the beauty of culture and language, uniting people from across the world and creating an environment of solidarity.

17. Mother’s Day on March 21, 2022: A special Mother's Day celebration will be held across the Expo 2020 site honoring and focusing on the wellbeing and health of mothers.

18. World Water Day on March 22, 2022: This day aims to explore the ways in which groundwater can be used for social, industrial and civil welfare.

What are the five tracks of the Programme of People and Planet?

Visitors will get to personally explore the topics raised in Programme for People and the Planet by embarking on a curated visitor journey. According to each theme week, visitors will experience self-guided tours, available on the Expo app, soon to launch closer to the event opening. They will get to discover the different ways in which countries, businesses and other organizations are responding to the key challenges we are facing as a community.

The content of the programme is organized into five tracks, underscoring the Theme Weeks with different events:

1. Building Bridges

This is Expo’s cultural track. Utilising the power of storytelling, art and music, it will foster intercultural dialogue and knowledge exchange. A forum that is a part of this track is ‘Dignified Storytelling’, an intiative for dialogue, engagement and advocacy set up in collaboration with Dubai Cares.

'World Majlis' is another platform unique to Expo, where intellectual minds will converge in an open discussion; there are 53 gatherings planned for the following six months. ‘Flip your Worldview’ will also feature across the Expo site, a partnership with Gapminder Foundation, to capture, measure and dismantle misconceptions in order to promote a fact-based worldview.

2. Leave no one behind

This is the social-development track. It will open the conversation to equality, opportunity and communities at risk of marginalisation. Under this, the Women’s Pavilion invites visitors to recognise that when women thrive, all of humanity prospers.

The Good Place Pavilion by Expo Live will also be featured under this track - dedicated to showcasing social innovators who have made a measurable impact on people’s lives across the world. 'The Best Practice Area' in the Opportunity Pavilion will exhibit 50 impactful projects that are tangible solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

3. Live in Balance

This track will focus on how the international community can work together to restore balance with the planet. Countries have signed a plastic-pledge to minimise the impact of single use plastic, an example of how the Expo 2020 are striving towards the restoration of our eco-system. Expo will also initiate its 'Seeds of Change' engagement platform that connects visitors with inspiring projects around the world and guides the event's carbon offset investment.

4. Thrive together

The track that concentrates on providing a platform to forge partnerships and explore opportunities in business and commerce. The thematic business forum allows individuals to expand their business network and facilitate maximum engagement.

5. Vision 2071

The founding fathers of the UAE envisioned a bold future for their people. This track proposes the future and how anything is possible if we work together.

- The writer is an intern with Gulf News.