The mission of the Zayed Sustainability Prize is to foster innovative, impactful, and inspiring sustainability solutions worldwide, honoring the legacy of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It aims to recognize achievements in sustainability that drive positive change across health, food, energy, water, and global high schools.
The Global High Schools grant program is designed to recognize high schools or secondary schools from six global regions that propose innovative, impactful, and inspirational sustainability projects in the areas of health, food, energy, and/or water. The program is focused on student-led projects that demonstrate innovative approaches to sustainability challenges, aiming to inspire active participation in sustainable development among students. The grant encourages projects that can be in one or a combination of the specified areas, emphasizing that these initiatives should not be about administrative projects or educational reforms but rather about implementing actual sustainability ideas within the schools. Each winning school from the specified global regions will receive up to US$ 150,000 to implement their project. The evaluation criteria for the grant include Innovation, requiring student-driven problem identification and solution creation; Impact, emphasizing measurable outcomes in sustainability for the school and wider community; and Inspiration, reflecting Sheikh Zayed’s core values and inspiring further responsible actions within the wider community.