CMU-Q students explore sustainability in Singapore

A group of 18 students traveled to Singapore over spring break to explore creative options in sustainability. The trip was one of five learning trips for Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) students that took place during the mid-semester break.

CMU-Q is a Qatar Foundation partner university.

The students looked at creative approaches that Singapore has implemented to reach its 2030 goals for sustainability. 

Mariam Ahmed and Nihad Abu Aker are senior students and served as the trip student leaders. 

“We all gained a sense of ownership in the area of sustainability, I believe,” said Ahmed. “We learned that when we have a common purpose, one single action of an individual can be part of a collective effort to live a more eco-centered life.”

The students explored innovative solutions like vertical farming, recycling waste water, and solar energy, many of which they believe could be incorporated into Qatar’s sustainability goals.

Abu Aker said: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. Sustainability requires human ingenuity. We are the most important resource.”

Fuad Farooqi, area head for business administration, was a faculty leader on the trip. “While Singapore and Qatar have very different climates and ecosystems, we face many of the same sustainability challenges. With this trip, we wanted to show the students what other small countries are doing, and to inspire their creativity to find solutions to make CMU-Q and Qatar more sustainable.”

This is the first sustainability trip for students since 2019. Past destinations include Sydney, Australia and Santorini, Greece, which both have unique approaches to their specific sustainability challenges.