Document Type
Book Chapter
Source of Publication
Branding the Middle East: Communication Strategies and Image Building from Qom to Casablanca
Publication Date
Fall 8-1-2023
Abstract
This chapter focuses on Emirati youth’s understanding of and practices related to a green shift in the UAE and how this correlates with the state’s efforts to brand the UAE as green and sustainable. This is part of a larger research project that investigates Emirati youth’s understanding of climate change. The UAE experience of environmental sustainability is unique as its green shift was initiated by the government in a top-down approach compared to the bottom-up green movements in most western states that has been the focus of most environmental studies so far. Environmental sustainability is part of UAE’s national Agenda for 2021 and it is considered a national priority and part of its attempts to project a favourable and progressive image of its state as being amongst the most economically and socially advanced nations. Methodologically, this project is conducted by collecting and analysing qualitative data about awareness of and attitudes to sustainability among young Emirati women in higher education. The data analysed is from a focus group conducted in Fall 2020 and from students’ participation in the annual Emirates Environmental Group’s Inter-college public speaking competition 2016 - 2020. Thematic analysis of the data collected is applied with focus on environmental awareness, perceptions and activities in relation to emerging aspects of branding. Emerging themes of place’s and commodities’ branding is clearly manifested in the participating young Emiratis’ perceptions and daily practices. These themes were intertwined with and driven by two main factors; the local cultural understanding of nature and the state’s top-down approach to implement sustainable practices, as well as branding the UAE as “green”.
Publisher
De Gruyter
Volume
Volume 38 in the series Studies on Modern Orient
Disciplines
Communication | Environmental Studies | Near Eastern Languages and Societies
Keywords
Emirati, youth, green branding, city branding, UAE, sustainability, climate change, greening
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Alzeer, Gergana and Rosmer, Tilde, "Greening the Desert: Emirati Youth’s Perceptions of Green Branding" (2023). All Works. 6399.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/6399
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series
Included in
Communication Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons