Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Attends Opening Ceremony of QF’s Earthna Summit 2025

– Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, today attended the opening ceremony of the second edition of the Earthna Summit, organized by Qatar Foundation. At the two-day Summit, held under the theme ‘Building our Legacy: Sustainability, Innovation and Traditional Knowledge’, the four winners of the 2025 Earthna Prize were announced. 

The opening of the Summit was also attended by Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation. The Summit has brought together global and local leaders, scientists, architects, activists, and artists to explore how traditional knowledge and cutting-edge innovation can offer powerful tools for resilience and adaptation.

The Earthna Prize, launched on Earth Day in 2024 by Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future, recognizes projects that demonstrate the integration of traditional knowledge and innovation to tackle environmental challenges. Marking the culmination of the inaugural edition, the four winning projects – selected from a shortlist of 12 outstanding finalists – will share a US$1 million prize to advance and accelerate their work.

Following a rigorous selection process focused on identifying inclusive, community-rooted solutions that harness traditional knowledge to build sustainable futures, the four winners are:

• The Farmer Tantoh Foundation (Cameroon) – Engaging communities in water conservation by protecting spring catchments, applying indigenous knowledge, and improving water quality through sustainable purification methods.

• Fundación Suma Kausai – Wuasikamas Ëconeêrã (Colombia) – Mitigating climate change impacts by integrating Indigenous knowledge from the EperaraSiapiadaara, Inga, Siona, and Cofán peoples to protect biodiversity and promote harmonious living with nature.

• Blooming World International – Seeds of Change Initiative (Kenya) – Combating food insecurity by reviving traditional agricultural knowledge, promoting African indigenous vegetables, and empowering women and youth through sustainable farming practices.

• Thriving Fishers, Thriving Oceans by Blue Ventures (Kenya, Senegal, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Belize) – Partnering with coastal communities to restore tropical fisheries by supporting Indigenous small-scale fishers and tackling overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change.

Speaking at the opening of the Summit, Her Excellency Sheikha Hind said:

“We are determined that the outcomes of this Summit grow from the ground beneath our own feet, shaped by our culture, our land, our weather, and our ways. We want this gathering -- and others like it-- to be spaces where we come together in recognition of our “fitrah”, the innate human nature within us all, that calls us to uphold what is just, what is generous, and what is in harmony with the world around us.”

Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, Executive Director of Earthna, praised the Earthna Prize winners for their visionary, tradition-based innovations, adding:

"The Earthna Prize recognizes solutions that draw on deep-rooted knowledge and collective experience to address today’s environmental challenges. Our winners demonstrate that true innovation is not just about new technologies—it is also about revitalizing and adapting time-tested practices for a sustainable future. Their work serves as a powerful reminder that resilience and progress are built on the practices we already possess, reimagined for the needs of our time."

The Earthna Prize trophy was designed by Nada Elkharashi, a renowned local sustainability designer and an alumna of Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar– a QF partner university. The trophy, ‘Earthna Echo’, captures the sound wave pattern of the word ‘Earthna’ and transforms it into a sculptural representation of Earthna's impact.

The first call for submissions for the Earthna Prize received more than 400 submissions from over 100 countries. A global review committee selected the 12 finalists, which underwent a second detailed review process by a panel of environmental and cultural leaders. The international jury comprised His Excellency Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, Founder and CEO of Caravane Earth; His Excellency Iván Duque, Former President of the Republic of Colombia; Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Founder of Survival International; Dr. Frannie Léautier, Senior Partner and CEO of SouthBridge Investments; and the Honorable Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland.

The Earthna Prize is awarded biennially, with details of the second edition of the Earthna Prize to be announced later this year.