Wellbeing Retreat Enhances Academic Life Skills

The Emirates Center for Happiness Research at the United ‎Arab Emirates University has organized a retreat, with the ‎participation of deans of colleges, representatives of a ‎number of public institutions, and the Comprehensive ‎Wellness Clinic Dubai‏.‏

Prof. Ahmed Murad, Associate Provost for Research, ‎stressed that the UAE University is interested in organizing ‎events parallel to academic life, in order to enrich the ‎academic work environment with the best positive practices. ‎The forum comes as a reflection of the university's ‎orientations on enhancing the wellbeing in general and ‎campus and academic life in particular, as an effective and ‎influential work environment in academic output, by ‎empowering leadership, raising the level of production, ‎enhancing the positive spirit, and presenting the best ‎wellbeing-related research and studies.‎

He pointed out that the university owns a number of ‎research centers. The scientific research is the main driver of ‎the academic work environment, and the most important ‎tools that contribute to finding innovative scientific ‎solutions to achieve wellbeing‏.‏

Nouf Al-Junaibi, Director of the Emirates Center for ‎Happiness Research, confirmed that organizing this retreat ‎comes within the framework of introducing society groups ‎to the best wellbeing-related practices and applications in ‎the work environment, and sharing with them the latest ‎research results. She said, "The center is keenly seeking to ‎achieve its goals of becoming an internationally accredited ‎center, as a strategic and essential partner in the UAE ‎government in the areas of happiness and positivity ‎research, through skill development, professional ‎development, providing advisory services and supporting ‎public policies with scientific evidence‏."‏

She added: We are working to serve the UAE community by ‎providing it with specialized evidence-backed services, and ‎providing studies, research and training that would enhance ‎and consolidate happiness and positivity. The center also ‎performs the tasks and dissemination of studies and ‎scientific research on positive happiness, assessing ‎happiness indicators in the UAE, developing programs that ‎build capacities and providing professional advice and in-‎depth evidence on positive psychology, the importance of ‎satisfaction and the standard of living for the UAE people, ‎and providing concerned authorities with the best ways and ‎improve the level of well-being and lifestyle.‎

During the retreat, Dr. Tayeb Rashid, one of the first ‎psychologists and a researcher in the field of positive ‎psychology, gave a presentation on the importance of ‎leaders' development to be reflected on their teams later, ‎which contributes to integrating them and increasing their ‎productivity at work‏.‏