Latest news with #SimonCook
Campaign ME
22-04-2025
- Business
- Campaign ME
Cannes Lions picks Khaled AlShehhi as first government sector juror in 72-year history
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has selected Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Marketing and Communication at the UAE Government Media Office, to join its jury panel, making it the first time that a government sector representative from across the globe has been chosen for this role in the festival's 72-year history. The appointment of Khaled AlShehhi to the prestigious PR Lions Awards jury, reflects the festival's recognition of the UAE's achievements in shaping innovative, forward-thinking marketing communications. This also marks the first time that an Emirati national has been chosen as a juror for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Commenting on the appointment, Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, said, 'We are delighted to welcome Khaled AlShehhi to the PR Lions jury. His innovative work in government communications and ongoing commitment to creative excellence in the region and beyond, means he is well placed to represent the region on the global stage.' The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the selection of Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Marketing and Communication at the UAE Government Media Office, as the first government sector representative worldwide to join the jury of this prestigious… — UAEGOV (@UAEmediaoffice) April 21, 2025 'The UAE Government Media Office's consistent success at Cannes Lions – winning for three consecutive years and the UAE's ranking at eighth – within the global Top 10 – in the Cannes Lions Global Creativity Index highlight the remarkable strides the nation has made in recent years,' Cook added. The UAE Government Media Office has earned more than 220 international accolades, including multiple Cannes Lions awards, a fourth-place global ranking in the Effie Index for effective marketing, and recognition as the 2022 Global Brand of the Year by the AME New York Festival. AlShehhi has also been widely recognised across the industry. He was named Advertising Person of the Year at Dubai Lynx 2023 and earned the 2023 Loeries Marketing Leadership and Innovation Award, becoming the first Middle Eastern recipient in that show's 45-year history. Among his other accolades are the 2022 Effie MENA Honorary Award and the 2022 World Media Group Award for Content Leadership and Innovation. He also serves on the Board of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) in the Middle East and North Africa, and is a member of the Strategic Council of the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA), actively contributing to the growth and development of the region's communications industry. Reacting to his appointment as a Cannes Lions juor, Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at the UAE Government Media Office, said, 'It is a privilege to join the Cannes Lions jury, an opportunity that not only underscores our organization's achievements globally but also highlights the UAE's belief in the power of creativity to shape impactful government communications. For me, true creativity begins with a heart-racing insight, and it only grows stronger when you dare to bring it to life. if an idea doesn't shake you a bit, it's probably not bold enough to capture hearts and transform realities.' AlShehhi added, 'I look forward to sharing our perspective and learning from the world's finest PR campaigns. I am grateful to work in an environment that consistently nurtures bold ideas and encourages pioneering strategies. This culture of innovation enables us to produce campaigns that resonate locally and globally, and I hope to bring those insights to the jury table.' As a juror, he will join leading global professionals at Cannes Lions this June to evaluate groundbreaking PR campaigns, culminating in the Awards Show on 20 June 2025. This appointment stands as a testament to the UAE's creative influence and its increasing leadership on the international stage.
Euronews
02-04-2025
- Science
- Euronews
The Arctic's glaciers are retreating, exposing new coastlines that could trigger tsunamis
ADVERTISEMENT Shrinking glaciers exposed 2,500 kilometres of coastline and 35 'new' islands in the Arctic between 2000 and 2020, new research has found. Scientists examined satellite images of more than 1,700 ice caps in Greenland, Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, the Russian Arctic, Iceland and Svalbard over this 20-year period. Their analysis shows that 85 per cent of these glaciers retreated, uncovering an average of 123 kilometres of new coastline per year. This is 'fundamentally altering the nature of Arctic landscapes', according to Dr Simon Cook, a senior lecturer in environmental sciences at the University of Dundee. The research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change , links the acceleration in glacier melt to rising ocean and air temperatures. Most of the new coastlines appear in Greenland As global temperatures rise, glaciers are experiencing increasingly rapid retreat. The base of the glacier, known as the 'terminus', begins to melt, shrinking the overall length of the ice cap. Marine-terminating glaciers - which flow into the ocean - often reveal new areas of coastline when they melt. From satellite imagery of 1,704 marine-terminating glaciers in the northern hemisphere, the researchers mapped the 2,466 kilometres of coastline that were exposed between 2000 and 2020. The study shows that the rate of freshly revealed coastline varies significantly between regions. Just 101 glaciers were responsible for more than half of the total additional coastline length, the authors found. Two-thirds of the new coastline was located in Greenland. The retreat of the Zachariae Isstrom glacier in the northeast of the country formed 81 kilometres of new coastline - more than twice as much as any other glacier in the study. Melting glaciers also revealed 35 new islands with areas larger than 0.5 square kilometres, the researchers found. These were completely uncovered or lost their glacial connection with the mainland. Warming ocean and air temperatures - driven by climate change - are the main impetus for marine-terminating glaciers to rapidly lose mass , the study says. Newly exposed coastline increases risk of landslides and tsunamis The researchers warn that 'the retreat of marine-terminating glaciers not only alters the landscape but simultaneously poses an indirect risk to local communities and economic activities in the coastal zone.' The newly uncovered coastlines - known as 'paraglacial' - are more susceptible to landslides, which can then trigger 'dangerous tsunamis '. ADVERTISEMENT The study highlights the tsunami in Greenland in June 2017, which caused substantial infrastructure damage and loss of life. Related Swiss glaciers shrank during Europe's record-hot summer despite high snowfall in June Switzerland and Italy redraw border as melting glaciers shift the frontier 'Paraglacial coasts differ from other established areas of Arctic coastline because permafrost will not yet have had time to develop in these freshly revealed areas, meaning that they are more easily eroded by wave action, mass wasting and other processes because of a lack of icy cement,' environmental sciences lecturer Cook wrote in an article for Nature Climate Change. 'They are, therefore, expected to be highly dynamic.' The authors of the new research note that this also poses safety risks for the tourists that flock to coastal glacial areas for their beauty and abundant wildlife. 'Camping and touristic activities along coasts close to the main iceberg transport routes are threatened by iceberg roll waves,' they write. ADVERTISEMENT 'Apart from health and safety risks linked to extreme wave impacts, the tourism industry may be considerably compromised by the scenic beauty of the landscape when marine-terminating glaciers morph into land-terminating features.'
