Doha, Qatar: Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future, a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), using its home, Education City, as a testbed, develops and trials sustainable solutions and evidence-based policies for Qatar and hot and arid regions.
Two such initiatives currently underway include a comprehensive air quality monitoring programme and a pioneering green roof project—both designed to explore new approaches to urban sustainability and environmental stewardship.
“Education City is a large and vibrant location with an active academic and residential community. It offers us a unique opportunity to test innovative solutions in a real-world setting. These solutions can then be measured for impact, and if proven effective, scaled to the wider areas,” Executive Director of Earthna, Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata told The Peninsula.
As part of its efforts, Earthna is currently collaborating with the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute to monitor air quality across Education City using a network of sensors. The initiative aims to analyse both positive and negative influences on air quality and is expected to yield initial results within a year.
“The insights we gain from this work will help shape broader strategies,” Dr. Mata said, adding that initial results of the initiative are expected within a year.
Similarly, the green roof project—now in its second year—is being used to study biodiversity, water usage, plant selection, and the feasibility of supporting urban biodiversity corridors.
“We’re now in the second year of this exciting project. Any valuable lessons from it will be shared with the government and, if relevant, could be expanded,” said Dr. Mata.
Under the theme “Building Our Legacy: Sustainability, Innovation and Traditional Knowledge,” the Earthna Summit 2025, on April 22-23, brought together global and local leaders, policymakers, researchers, and youth from over 100 countries in a collaborative push for a more sustainable future.
The Earthna Summit 2025 also served as a platform for the centre to unveil several major research and policy publications, including three of them focused on Qatar’s sustainability journey. These include reports on ecology, carbon emission reduction, and sustainable development strategies.
“Our reports are coordinated by in-house experts who draw on the knowledge and information provided by Qatar Foundation. As a rich ecosystem of academic and research institutions, Qatar Foundation offers a wealth of valuable insights that inform our work,” Executive Director of Earthna, Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata told The Peninsula.
“When necessary, we also engage international experts, particularly when specific expertise is not available locally. This approach ensures a balanced combination of local knowledge and international perspectives, tailored to each situation,” he said, adding that policy makers were consulted in developing reports.
The report titled Towards the Development of a Sustainability Framework for Qatar, produced by Earthna, Wealth Fair Economics, and the University of Sussex Business School, introduces Inclusive Wealth as a foundation for balanced development.
A policy dossier, Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies for Qatar, is co-authored by Earthna and the Middle East Council on Global Affairs and examines carbon reduction strategies aligned with Qatar’s National Vision 2030.
Earthna’s brief ‘Qatar’s Ecology is an Assessment with Recommendations’ assesses Qatar’s ecological landscape and offers actionable recommendations for sustainability.
