Tatiana Antonelli-Abella sits down with the winners of the 2024-25 cohort of the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Initiative.

Now in its second year, the Venture Programme received 660 registration and 190 innovation solutions, each focused on soil regeneration, climate and water-resilient agricultural practices, and addressing food security.

This years’s winners are:

• Omaima Marhane from Actinobacteria, developing solutions to tackle water stress in arid soils.
• Dr. Budour A. Alghamdi, Eng. Wafa A. Alrasheed, and Dr. Adil E. Abdelnour from Farm to 2Fs, turning animal waste into bioenergy and fertilizer.
• ⁠Teodoro Garcia-Millan, Fran Robson, and Veronica Greco from RedDot, revolutionizing pest control with RNA-based technology.

You can find out more about the Venture Programme, the winners, and the Top 20 solutions here.

You can also listen to the winners of the first cohort here.

We also want to thank our partners, HSBC and ⁠Saudi Awal Bank, who worked with us to both upskill and empower innovative solutions like these through funding and mentorship, helping them progress towards becoming viable commercial possibilities.

For the final episode of our special mini-series, Tatiana Antonelli-Abella is joined by Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural innovation network. Dr. Elouafi was just named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2025 by TIME Magazine.

Dr. Elouafi shares more about her work at CGIAR and their groundbreaking research, which has transformed food security in regions facing salinity and water scarcity.

This episode is part of Our Land, Our Future, a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

Tatiana Antonelli-Abella is joined by Wassim Said for a special episode of Forward Talks to mark the inaugural World Day for Glaciers and 2025 being the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. Wassim is a Steering Committee member of the Emirates Polar Program in addition to being an Advisor with the UAE’s Presidential Court.

Wassim explains the critical role of glaciers as freshwater sources and in the context of climate change, and the work of the Emirates Polar Program.

Part of ‘Take a Breath’ Webinar Series: "Breathing into the Future: Creating Healthier Spaces for Resilient Cities and Communities”.

Our opening session, "Indoor Air Quality and Health: Global to Local Challenges and Opportunities" was held on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.

Panel of experts included:

Heba Safi – World Health Organisation, Technical Officer on Air Quality and Health

Vahid Hosseini- Lead on Transportation-Related Air Pollution at UNU-INWEH

Kholood Altassan - Assistant Professor in Environmental and Occupational Health and Head of the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Unit at King Saud University

Frank Hammes - IQAir Global CEO (IQAir: First in Air Quality)

For more information on Take a Breath visit: www.TakeaBreath.ae

Tatiana Antonelli-Abella is joined by Feras Ziadat, who is currently a Land and Water Officer with a specific focus on land resource management and planning at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Mr. Ziadat played a pivotal role in coordinating the FAO flagship report titled The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture, SOLO, and he also updating the FAO Guide on integrated land use planning. In this episode, he talks about fostering participatory and integrated land use planning, combating land degradation and desertification, and the dangers of sand and dust storms. 

Prior to this role, Mr. Ziadat held the position of Senior Scientist at ICARDA and served as an Associate Professor at the University of Jordan. He has also served as the chair of the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

This episode is part of Our Land, Our Future, a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

Tatiana Antonelli-Abella is joined by Ali Tariq Khan, Senior Advisor for ESG Matters at Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), a leading corporate, institutional and trade finance bank in Saudi Arabia with a strategic partnership with HSBC Group.

In this current role, Ali’s ESG responsibilities include disclosures, governance, policy, training, net-zero commitments and he leads multiple industry initiatives as well. Ali is a seasoned banker with 20 years of experience with strategic positions at Standard Chartered Bank and the HSBC Group across multiple geographies both worldwide and in the Middle East.

This episode is part of Our Land, Our Future, a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

Tatiana Antonelli-Abella is joined by Neal Spackman to discuss the Al Baydah Restoration Project in Saudi Arabia, a groundbreaking project he led in partnership with the King Faisal Foundation, starting with a 100-acre prototype watershed in 2010.

Neal is co-founder at Regenerative AquaForestry Technologies, and partner at Regenerative Studios, a design & Strategy consultancy. He focuses on enterprise development and disrupting conventional methods of agricultural production, and has led and advised regenerative projects in Latin America, the US, West & East Africa, Southern Europe as well as in the Middle East. 

This episode is part of Our Land, Our Future, a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

Welcome to Our Land, Our Future, a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification.

Our first episode features Professor Kaveh Madani, a prominent environmental scientist, educator, and leader known for his work on complex human-natural systems at the interface of science, policy, and society. With over 300 publications, Professor Kaveh is currently the Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). Funded by the Government of Canada, the Institute leads efforts to address global water, environmental and health challenges through research, capacity building and policy solutions as the academic arm of the United Nations.

Professor Madani discusses the concept of "water bankruptcy," and argues that simply increasing water supply is not a sufficient solution to address our water needs. He also explains the need for a global approach to addressing desertification and land degradation.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

Links:

• UNU-INWEH | United Nations University
• UN: Invest in Nature to Cut Billion-Dollar Costs of Droughts | United Nations University
• Five drought myths experts say must be shattered
• Hurricane Helene Posed a Threat to Over 31,000 Properties in the U.S., with a Combined Value Exceeding $12.5 Billion | United Nations University

Welcome to “Our Land, Our Future,” a special mini-series of Forward Talks by Goumbook focused on land restoration and combating desertification—key topics discussed at the UNCCD COP16, held for the first time in the Middle East, in Riyadh, December 2024.

Host Tatiana Antonelli-Abella will be speaking to regional and global stakeholders who are spearheading innovative efforts to protect and restore land. The goal is to foster awareness and inspire action within the Middle East and beyond to address this urgent environmental challenge of our time. Our conversation will extend beyond COP16, addressing broader issues in the Middle East & North Africa region.

This special series is brought to you in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank. Find out more at: https://www.sab.com/esg/.

The first MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Program Ceremony took place on the 22nd of May, the International Day of Biological Diversity, where we celebrated the researches and entrepreneurs who hold the keys to solving some of the world’s fundamental agricultural problems.

The Regenerative Agriculture Program has been a transformative journey, from the initial open call in 2023. We received over 100 registration from 18 counties and some of the most innovative academic and entrepreneurial minds. Samantha Keyruz, our Strategy and Sustainability Impact Director who also championed the program, spoke to our three winners about their solutions, the challenges they faced in making them viable and how we can work to close the gap between academia and the public sector.

We also want to thank our partners, HSBC and Saudi Awal Bank, who worked with us to both upskill and empower innovative solutions like these through funding and mentorship, and help them become viable commerical possibilities.

Tatiana sits down with Sylvain Bonnet, Vice President & Global General Manager for Telfast, a brand under global healthcare company, Sanofi. Sanofi and Telfast have been instrumental towards Goumbook’s Take-a-Breath campaign, an awareness initiative to raise awareness and drive action on indoor air quality, aligning with the UAE Air Quality Agenda 2031.

Tatiana and Sylvain talk about Sanofi’s net-zero commitment, their b-corp certification and their declaration to become a purpose-led organization. Sylvain shares how purpose-driven actions unlock health by promoting research, equitable access, preventive measures, targeted interventions, community empowerment, environmental stewardship, and climate action. When organizations align their purpose with these goals, they create a positive impact on a global scale.

Links:

• COP28 Think Tank: Exploring the nexus of indoor air quality, public health and climate action
• Goumbook’s Take-a-breath campaign