🌍 Sustainability Through Action

DMU’s commitment to SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production is visible through its policies, learning activities, and community partnerships that encourage the efficient use of resources, ethical sourcing, and responsible waste management. In December 2023, students participated in the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) initiative “For Our Emirates We Plant – One Root One Communi-Tree (OROC)”, collecting 145 kg of plastic and other recyclables to qualify for sapling planting in the Ajman National Reserve. The campaign exemplified a circular economy in action—waste reduction leading to restoration and renewal. 

“145 kg of plastic collected → trees planted – a tangible loop from waste to restoration.”

🔗 Welcome to Dubai Medical College for Girls - One Root One Communi-tree Campaign at DMCG

♻️ Sustainable Campus and Operational Practices

DMU’s institutional policies demonstrate an integrated approach to sustainability and responsible operations:

• The DMU Sustainability Policy serves as the cornerstone of the University’s operational commitment to sustainability. It embeds environmental stewardship and social responsibility across all academic, research, administrative, and community functions, ensuring that sustainability is not an isolated initiative but an institutional ethos. The policy mandates resource efficiency, sustainable procurement, waste minimization, and carbon-emission reduction as measurable university-wide goals, overseen by the DMU Sustainability Committee. This committee coordinates and monitors progress through defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), evaluating energy, water, and waste-management performance to guide continuous improvement.

🔗 F.6.  DMU Sustainability Policy

• The Laboratory Safety Policy (F.2) and the Maintenance & Storage Policies (F.3 and F.5.7) together create a comprehensive framework for hazardous-material disposal, laboratory-equipment maintenance, and lifecycle management. These policies mandate the segregation, neutralization, and third-party disposal of biological and chemical waste to ensure compliance with UAE environmental and health regulations. All waste materials such as bacterial cultures, acids, and solvents are treated and safely removed through licensed environmental contractors, minimizing ecological risk.

Furthermore, DMU maintains a Hazardous Substances Register and detailed Incident and Risk Identification Forms to track and monitor every disposal activity, ensuring traceability and accountability in line with international best practices. The Maintenance and Rules for Labs (F.3) policy strengthens this system by establishing a preventive maintenance schedule and requiring supplier contracts for bi-annual calibration and servicing of scientific instruments. This approach extends equipment lifespans, reduces the frequency of replacements, and prevents unnecessary procurement-related waste.

Complementing this, the Storage and Maintenance Policy (F.5.7) mandate the regular inspection, cleaning, and digital recordkeeping of laboratory simulators and part-task trainers, ensuring safe operation and resource efficiency. Equipment is maintained under controlled conditions, with inventory logs and maintenance records reviewed periodically by the Simulation Technologist and respective Deans.

Collectively, these policies demonstrate DMU’s proactive stance on reducing waste generation at source, promoting reuse and safe disposal, and managing laboratory resources responsibly throughout their lifecycle fulfilling the UN SDG 12.2 requirement on operational measures for sustainable consumption and production.

🔗 F.2 - Laboratories: Rules for Safety and Security

🔗 F.3 - Maintenance and Rules for Labs and Lab Equipment

🔗 F.5.7 - Storage and Maintenance Policy

🤝 Partnerships and Community Leadership

Through multi-level engagement—academic, operational, and community—DMU and its partner colleges (DMCG & DPCG) promote responsible consumption beyond campus walls. The Community Engagement Policy (K.1) and Community Engagement Plan (K.2) reinforce DMU’s sustainability objectives by embedding environmental stewardship and waste-management awareness within community and student outreach. Both documents establish structured frameworks for university- and student-led initiatives that promote recycling, resource conservation, and sustainable living practices across the wider community. Under these frameworks, students and faculty collaborate with environmental organizations such as the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to organize clean-up drives, tree-planting campaigns, and educational workshops on responsible consumption. Every department is encouraged to host at least one sustainability or environmental awareness activity each semester, ensuring that sustainability principles extend beyond campus operations into public engagement. Through these ongoing programs ranging from school visits on diet and environmental conservation to waste-sorting and recycling drives DMU cultivates community responsibility and advances the goals of SDG 12 by transforming awareness into practical, measurable action.

DMU has adapted the basic principles of Public Participation from the “IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation” given in the table below.

Under these frameworks, students and faculty collaborate with environmental organizations such as the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) and DEWA to organize clean-up drives, tree-planting campaigns, and educational workshops on responsible consumption. Every department is encouraged to host at least one sustainability or environmental awareness activity each semester, ensuring that sustainability principles extend beyond campus operations into public engagement. Through these ongoing programs—ranging from school visits on diet and environmental conservation to waste-sorting and recycling drives—DMU cultivates community responsibility and advances the goals of SDG 12 by transforming awareness into practical, measurable action.

🔗 K.1 - Community Engagement

🔗 K.2 - Community Engagement Plan of DMU

Collectively, these measures ensure DMU functions as a “Green Campus”, as defined by its sustainability framework, combining compliance with UAE environmental standards and active waste-reduction initiatives.

📚 Education for Sustainability and Responsible Production

The “Empowering Future Innovators” session (Oct 2024) introduced design-thinking frameworks for sustainability, encouraging students to conceptualize healthcare solutions that minimize waste and environmental impact.

🔗 Empowering Future Innovators: Dr. Arianna Mazzeo’s Inspiring Session.

🌱 Strategic Alignment

DMU’s sustainability actions for SDG 12 advance the university’s strategic objectives by:

• Strategic Goal 1 (Values Driven): Embedding ethics, compassion, and environmental responsibility into student culture and institutional operations.

• Strategic Goal 3 (Research & Innovation): Encouraging sustainability-oriented research and integrating responsible consumption principles into academic programs.

• Strategic Goal 4 (Authentic Leadership): Strengthening partnerships with governmental and community organizations to lead change in responsible resource use.