4th December, 12:00 -1:00pm
‘Street by street, village by village, countries within continents, we search for our path.’
The climate crisis is also a crisis of communication, translation, imagination, and empathy. Join University of Exeter experts Dr Sally Flint, Cecilia Mañosa Nyblon, and Prof Ian Fussell and UNICEF Youth Advocate Yousef Abdullah Al Balushi on an innovative collaborative workshop to create new narratives to support the COP28 Youth Delegate capacity training programme.
Mangrove Area, Youth Hub, Green Zone
4th December 7.00-9.00pm
Embark on a captivating journey at ‘A Night for the Ocean,’ presented by Embodied Sounds in collaboration with leading global NGO-partners Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), and Oceanic Global. Featuring the award-winning immersive experience ‘Sounds of the Ocean,’ opening with an evocative bilingual poem from We Are the Possible: 12 Poems for 12 Days of COP28.
Witness the enchanting marine world through a blend of music, dance, and oceanic imagery and dive into ocean conservation with inspiring keynotes and a commitment to Ancient Wisdom through the lens of Indigenous elders.
Green Zone Stage, Green Zone, COP28, Expo City, Dubai
6th December 1.00pm-2.00pm
BIMM Institute will present an hour-long concert of original songs for COP28 written and performed by their students. Inspired by the poetry, the music ranges across a wide variety of contemporary styles and genres; with lyrics that draw directly on some of the poetic imagery but also the broader themes of climate ecology and the challenges they present now – and in the future. This concert is the culmination of a year-long cross-disciplinary creative collaboration where young people have used their creativity to express their thoughts and feelings about the issues being discussed at the summit. The aim is to help the climate message reach new audiences in new ways and inspire others to act for our planet.
Extreme Hangout, Green Zone, COP28, Expo City, Dubai
6th December, 4.00-5.00pm
‘When our children’s children tell the story of how it was rivers ran clear’.
An original theatre production inspired by We Are The Possible: 12 Poems for 12 Days of COP28, Bright Light Burning has been developed by Professor Adam Marple, Co-Artistic Director of The Theatre of Others, and is designed to be performed with minimal wastage or environmental impact.
Extreme Hangout in the Green Zone, Al Forsan Park, Dubai Expo City
7th December, 9.30am-1.30pm
‘Denizens of Earth and Ocean, living on this blue dot, this pearl in this cosmic – together – we are the possible’.
A partnership event with the University of Khorfakkan which will connect feelings, facts, and findings about our planet through performance, music, soundscapes, children’s voices and actions for the ocean, and poetry co-created between UAE and UK to bring us together and forge a greener, healthier, and fairer world.
Opening remarks from President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lisa Roberts, and Professor Ahmed Al Shamma’a, Chancellor of Khorfakkan University.
Mohamed Bin Rashid Library, Dubai (by invitation only)
8th December 10.00-10.45am and 11.00-11.45am
Two creative workshops for children, led by Dr Sally Flint, Anita Wood and Cecilia Manosa Nyblon. In this workshop, children and their teachers will take an immersive journey from outer space to planet earth using soundscapes to inspire and imagine. Along the way, they will capture their ideas, feelings and wishes for our blue planet in the form of a short poem. All children will leave with deeper insight into our world’s place in the vast universe and with powerful words they can share with others.
SDGs: 13
Al Liwan Room, Greening Education Hub (Ministry of Education),
8th December 3.15-4.15pm
This will be an exciting interactive event including poetry co-created between UK and UAE, soundscapes, music, visuals, performance and a High-Level multi-stakeholder panel to unite us to forge a greener, healthier, and fairer world. The panel will be chaired by Professor Adam Marple (Director of the Bright Light Burning performance) and will include Monomita Nag Chowdhury, British Council UAE, UAE UNICEF Youth Advocate Abdul Mugeet, and a University of Exeter/Met Office climate scientist.
UK Pavilion, Blue Zone
Full schedule for UK Pavilion events here
Events will be livestreamed via: https://www.youtube.com/@ukgovernment4173
8th December, 7.30-8.45pm
‘Street by street, village by village, countries within continents, we search for our path’.
Inspired by We Are the Possible poems co-created between the UK and UAE, join us for an evening of unique original music and theatre performance of Bright Light Burning, Climate Whale Song Bath (Tom Mustill), Art for All performance, Schools Across the Ocean film bringing +400 voices and actions for the ocean from children (aged 10-12) from UK and UAE, and more!
Large Amphitheatre in the Green Zone, Al Forsan Park, Dubai Expo City
9th December - 10.00am-12.30pm
Schools Across the Ocean voices and actions for the ocean by more than 400 children, aged 10-12, from the UK and UAE, will be part of the closing programme.
Ocean UN Champions, Blue Zone
Events will be livestreamed via: https://www.youtube.com/@ukgovernment4173
9th December, 10.30-11.30am
Demonstrate how connections across the ocean, underpinned by science and the arts, enable children’s understanding of sustainability and action and meaningful greening of school curricula and teacher training.
We will share pioneering Schools Across the Ocean programme and highlight key outputs. This will include the launch of Schools Across the Ocean film, We Are the Ocean, a poetry anthology in English and Arabic, co-created by children (ages 10-12) in the UK and UAE, to amplify children’s voices and actions for the ocean to policy makers, educators, and other stakeholders. The interactive session will also be facilitated by a multi-stakeholder conversation to build on this unique educational foundation of good practice for Greening the Curriculum and Greening Teacher Training and Education Systems’ Capacities.
A high-level panel event, moderated by Aida Salamanca, British Council Country Director UAE, and featuring Jumana Haj-Ahmad (UNICEF representative for the Gulf region); Isobel Abulhoul, CEO, Adviser and Trustee of Emirates Literature Foundation; Professor Henrik Stahl, Dean at the University of Khorfakkan, and members of the University of Exeter’s We Are The Possible team.
Room Al Liwan, Greening Education Hub, Green Zone
Register here for the Green Zone
9th December – 4.00-5:00pm
The University of Exeter’s Schools Across the Ocean programme has created a bilingual children’s poetry anthology, We Are the Ocean, which brings children’s powerful voices to COP28 and beyond. The anthology has been created in partnership with the Emirates Literature Foundation and University of Khorfakkan together with over 400 children aged 10-12 and 13 English and Arabic medium partner school in UAE and the UK. The book launch will include sharing our Schools Across the Ocean Film, children sharing their favourite poem, art and action for the ocean both in Arabic and English in conversation with experts.
This event will feature Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, the Assistant Undersecretary of Care and Capacity Building-Sector, Ministry of Education UAE; Isobel Abulhoul, CEO, Adviser and Trustee of Emirates Literature Foundation; Dr Sally Flint, University of Exeter; and closing words by the British Embassy.
Room Al Maktaba, Greening Education Hub
10th December, 10.00-11.00am
Children’s voices are powerful, their ideas and voices matter! In this workshop we will think about possible and probable futures. We will use animations to help children imagine a healthier, greener planet. Working in teams, children will imagine the climate possibilities and solutions for locations near their school and learn how simple film-making is an important way of taking action. It will be led by Dr Sally Flint and Cecilia Manosa Nyblon.
SDGs: 11, 13, 14,
Room Fanar, Greening Education Hub (Ministry of Education)
10th December – 4:30-6:00pm
As part of COP 28, join us for an evening of performances that celebrate and bring awareness to the significant value found in the deep and intrinsic bond between humanity and the ocean. We will begin with a poetry performance by oral historian and poet Rasha Al-Duwaisan, reciting a body of work inspired by traditional fisherman’s songs from along the Arabian Peninsula. This is followed by a sustainable theatre performance developed by The Theatre of Others, where past and future collide into a present moment of shared mourning and collective healing for our planet.
The performance is inspired by We Are The Possible:12 Poems for 12 Days of COP28 between UK and UAE, a collaborative project between the University of Exeter Green Futures and The Theatre of Others, funded by the British Embassy Gulf Strategy Fund for COP28. We close the evening with an interactive children’s poetry installation, inspired by We Are the Ocean bilingual children’s anthology co-created between the University of Exeter Green Futures and the Emirates Literature Foundation, and refreshments in the Etihad Museum’s garden.
Etihad Museum, Al Mina, Dubai
11th December - 10.00-10.30am
In this workshop, children will learn about seagrass, its importance for storing blue carbon and the sea creatures who live in it. Using sea species ID cards, they will look at seagrass species from UAE and compare them with sea species from other seagrass meadows around the world. The workshop will end with a Question and Answer session with a seagrass scientist from the UK or UAE (the Q and A element will either be face to face or online via our partners at University of Khorfakkan or our partners in the UK working on seagrass meadow revitalisation).
SDGs: 13, 14.
Led by Prof Henrik Stahl and Dr Roqaya Alamiry l from Khorfakkan University.
Room Maktaba, Greening Education Hub (Ministry of Education)