Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has organised a special programme for top management, senior managers, and sustainability specialists, in collaboration with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). This is the first time this programme has been organised in the Middle East and North Africa, and supports DEWAs vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility.

The programme was organised over three days. The first day was for DEWAs top management and focused on sustainable leadership and best international practices in sustainability and organisational excellence. The second and third days were dedicated to senior managers and sustainability professionals from various divisions in DEWA. The topics covered integrating sustainability into day-to-day business and the sustainability framework in the workplace. A total of 35 staff participated in the training programme.

DEWAs strategy is to invest in people to increase employee productivity, and enhance their competitiveness. This is done by adopting international best practices and implementing the highest standards of quality and excellence in performance and work, to ensure that we deliver high quality services for all customers. These efforts support the directives of our wise leadership to promote a green economy and enhance sustainable development, said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

We have organised this programme, in collaboration with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, to support DEWAs organisational sustainability programme. We periodically launch comprehensive training programmes for our staff to sharpen their skills to cope with the work needs of DEWA, added Al Tayer.

The programme covered best practices adopted by international companies in applying sustainability into their strategies, financial benefits, and the social and environmental returns they get. The programme also focused on sustainable leadership and other topics such as the effects of climate change and related solutions. It also discussed promoting awareness of society on sustainability of energy and water resources, and conservation.

International organisations such as Google, General Electric, Shell, and Unilever have organised this programme for their organisational leadership. CISL organises the programme exclusively in 4 cities around the world: Cambridge, Cape Town, Melbourne, and Sao Paulo.