UAEU hosted a five day boot camp led by a team of experts to co-create and engage the UAEU community (Faculty, Student, Staff) in the content development and design of the UAEU pavilion at Expo 2020. The event was hosted in the newly established UAEU Expo 2020 Hub located in the Science and Innovation Park at UAEU. The first two days were dedicated to team building and understanding the methodology and brief. Also, the participants were afforded the opportunity to visit the Expo 2020 site to feel inspired and to see the location of the pavilion and the three main districts Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. Expo provided workshop to the participants to give a more accurate picture of the global event, and to help them to understand the message on which it is based ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. UAEU feels very honored as is the only educational institution in the UAE with its own pavilion.

The three remaining days were dedicated to involving the boot camp participants in 5 different workshops to come up with the desired outcomes. These included Mascot Design, App Design, Merchandize Design, Screenplay & Storyboard Design and Pavilion Artwork & Design. The participants were highly engaged and actively involved in the co-creation and ideation. It even led to some of them thinking of themselves as a pathfinder. The boot camp concluded with the final presentations and an award ceremony where participants were presented with certificates, Expo passes and recognition in the UAEU Pavilion at Expo 2020. This was just the beginning of many exciting activities and activations planned in the lead up to Expo 2020 Dubai to engage and inspire.