New Estidama online resource to foster sustainability knowledge and dialogue
The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), the agency responsible for the future of Abu Dhabi’s urban environments, has launched the new web site version of Estidama – sustainability in Arabic – an initiative that groups together communities, organisations, businesses and policy-makers to further encourage responsible decision making to bring Abu Dhabi and the region towards global sustainability leadership.
“Engaging and educating the community is one of UPC’s main objectives and the new Estidama web site design and functionality reflect our desire to promote an on-going, constructive dialogue and foster exchange of ideas and innovations for sustainable practices among our various constituencies in Abu Dhabi and beyond,” said H.E. Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, General Manager, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council.
The state-of-the-art online portal includes a number of interactive tools that allow users home page customization according to their bespoke needs and specialized interests on sustainability issues. It also functions as a forum to exchange views, comments and ideas and empowers users to delve deep into the latest trends of sustainability directly from specialist Estidama experts.
Plan Abu Dhabi is designed to help Abu Dhabi filter and respond to current and future development needs and establishing sustainability as the driving force of our urban planning culture. To promote the related strong guiding principles, UPC is developing tailored communication tools and the new Estidama website is part of them.
Salem Al Qassimi, Associate Planner, Estidama said that visitors to www.estidama.org can learn details of the newly launched Estidama Integrative Design Process (EIDP) which focuses on the ‘how’ of sustainability rather than simply the ‘what’.
“The Integrative Development Process sits at the core of Estidama. It is an evolved model that redefines existing urban development practices and requires a level of collaboration that is rarely used in our region or in building projects currently underway. This collaborative approach can be completed in a timely fashion, but because of its structure and philosophy, can save significant time and construction costs,” said Al Qassimi.
