Global High Schools Category Winner Launches Renewable Energy Centre with Zayed Future Energy Prize Funds

Abu Dhabi, UAE,28 May 2015 –Melbourne Girls’ College in Australia today launched the state-of-the-art renewable energy education centre that earned the school the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize in the Global High Schools category for the Oceania region.

The centre will integrate renewable energy into the school curriculum, displaying the benefits to students, the community and other schools. For example, a core component of the prize-winning project is a facility for students to generate and measure energy using specialised gym equipment.

A public launch event showcased the sustainable technologies adopted by Melbourne Girls’ College through interactive demonstrations by students, speeches from Australian leaders and a message from Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize. 

In the message to students and staff of Melbourne Girls’ College, Dr. Nawal Al-Hosanysaid: “I want to congratulate everyone at Melbourne Girls’ College on winning the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize. This is a great accomplishment and we wish you every success in implementing your project.

“As incubators of fresh ideas and talent, high schools have a key role to play in inspiring young people to become future clean energy leaders. Our goal through the prize is to support the international movement toward sustainable development by encouraging our existing and future winners to innovate, something that is desperately needed to address the energy challenges we face today.”

Melbourne Girls’ College featured at the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Forum in New York between 18 and 21 May, as a representative of the Zayed Future Energy Prize. The Global High Schools category was introduced as a commitment to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s SE4All initiative in 2012.

Speaking at theSE4AllForum, Melbourne Girls’ College Student Environment Captain, Ruby Wynn Williams said: “The inspiration for our Zayed Future Energy Prize project was a desireto take renewable energy education to the next level. We want our project to be bold, visible and interactive.”