A five-member jury drawn by the Dubai Award Secretariat as well as the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on Monday, January 15, 2018 began the evaluation process for the 11th cycle of the Dubai International Award for Best Practices. The Jury will select a final 10 winners from the 110 projects which qualified to this stage from the Technical Advisory Committee evaluation process also held in Dubai on October 30 to November 3, 2017. A total of 89 countries and territories submitted entries for this prestigious award.
The Dubai International Award for Best Practices recognises significant contributions and innovations aligned with key New Urban Agenda themes of National Urban Policy, Participatory Slum Upgrading, Monitoring Mechanisms, Urban Redevelopment, Urban Planning and Design, Municipal Finance, Legislation as well as Rules and Regulations.
These practices will also:
- Have a demonstrable and tangible impact on improving people’s quality of life;
- Are the result of effective partnerships between the public, private and civic sectors of society; and,
- Are socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable.
In his welcome note, the Director General of Dubai Municipality, Mr. Mohammed Mutaiwei, thanked the jurors for their commitment and effort to conduct the final evaluation process of the submissions in a transparent manner, and the significance of these practices for the international community.
The Chief of the Best Practices Unit at UN-Habitat, Ms. Åsa Jonsson, highlighted the fact that member states, and all other UN-Habitat partners ranging from NGOs to academia, are in one way or another looking for best practices to inspire and help guide their work, even though they may carry different terms such as “best in class examples” or “case studies”. Similarly, people on panels, and making presentations all take pride in showcasing what is ultimately their – or their organisation’s – best practices.
“The importance of the Award is to recognise and disseminate such best practices from multiple sectors – to help guide and feed into policies and programmes,” she added.
According to the organisers, the initiatives are examples of how the global community is working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda while spreading inspiration to encourage others.
“Through this award, we are able to recognise and document these initiatives in order to make them known to the world. Since 1996, we have had over 100 award winners whose projects have had a positive impact on improving the living environment.”
Jury Evaluation Process
Behind closed doors, the jury members closely review, discuss and evaluate the entry submissions according to their professional expertise and the evaluation criteria for the seven categories. On the final day, the jurors will determine which entries will be awarded based on impact, partnership, sustainability, leadership and community empowerment, gender equality and social inclusion, innovation within local context, and transferability, alongside the specific criteria for each category.
Five jurors from different countries were selected based on their area of expertise and their understanding of the categories. The evaluation process, it was gathered, will be done in a fair, transparent and independent manner.
