On March 31, 2022, the history-making 6-month event that was Expo 2020 Dubai officially closed her doors. Her last heartbeats emanated from Al Wasl Plaza at 7:45 PM. The closing ceremony marked an end to a decade-plus long journey and celebrated a new beginning for the city of Dubai and the world.   In the very last episode of our series we say goodbye to Expo 2020 Dubai, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.”   This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

What does it mean when you talk about the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and how do you make it accessible in a way that really resonates with everybody?   As one of the three main sub themes of Expo 2020, Opportunity has an intended purpose: to put words into action. The Global Goals are the perfect expression of what opportunity means. In the first of this two part series about Opportunity at Expo 2020 Dubai, we discover how, in a period of six months, the Global Goals for...

Inside the Opportunity pavilion is a room called Mission Possible. In this room, nearly half a million people made pledges to take small but consistent steps in their day to day lives, for a better world. The Opportunity pavilion was inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, breaking down 17 ambitious goals into steps and projects that each one of us can employ. In the second part of our series on the theme of Opportunity at Expo 2020 Dubai, we will embark on a tour...

At the heart of Expo 2020 Dubai, right next to Al Wasl Plaza, is the elegant pavilion of the United Arab Emirates. It’s futuristic-looking and avante-garde. An architectural marvel with literal wings, inspired by the national symbol of the United Arab Emirates: the falcon.   In this episode, we take a look at the architecture of the UAE pavilion, Alif the mobility pavilion, and Terra the sustainability pavilion. How do they continue a long tradition of World Expos being a platform for...

When many of us think of ancient civilizations our minds may venture to Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia or India. But it turns out that there was a centre of trade right in the middle of the desert just south of Dubai that connects with each of these ancient civilizations called Saruq Al-Hadid, and it’s believed to have existed as far back as the Iron Age 4,000 years ago.   Of all the many artefacts found at Saruq Al-Hadid a tiny golden ring stood out. This golden  ring, now a symbol of Emirati...

What at Expo 2020 Dubai will be in popular culture 20 years from now? That’s the question Charles Pappas asks himself while walking around the site. Charles is the author of a history on World Expos called ‘Flying Cars, Zombie Dogs, and Robot Overlords’. Over the years, World Expos have shaped history, individual lives, and popular culture.    In this episode, we give the mic to Charles Pappas to tell us several little stories that prove how World Expos not only influence pop culture, but...

Many miles away from the Expo site, on the other side of the world, is a rising fitness wearables company named WHOOP. Together, Expo 2020 Dubai and WHOOP rolled out a wellness program for Expo workers and set out to test the power of biometric health tech, in one of the busiest construction projects, where at the peak of construction, some 45,000 staff were on site.    How can programs like this help make construction sites safer and protect workers in labour-intensive industries? In...

Located in the Sustainability District, the Vision Pavilion is an emotional and inspiring homage to the Ruler of Dubai and celebrates the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The space reflects  the city of Dubai itself, small in size, but huge in impact.  In today's episode, we'll take you through the Vision Pavilion, a space unlike any other on the Expo grounds that showcases this vision which embraces the past with its traditions and heritage but is fiercely...

Wherever you are in the world today, you can see and experience Expo in whichever virtual way you prefer. Whether you are a gamer, looking for content or just curious to explore the Expo site, Virtual Expo has got you covered. Alaa Alshroogi and the Virtual Expo team oversaw the creation of the entire Virtual Expo experience. These platforms have become the core of our connectedness and how accessibility came to have a whole other meaning.    This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced...

In the past few years, the team behind Expo 2020 Dubai gave “mobility” a lot of thought. After all, it is one of Expo’s three main themes: Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity.    This episode, the first in a two-part series on how Expo 2020 Dubai redefines mobility, is a tour inside Alif, the Mobility Pavilion. And who better to guide us inside Alif than Marjan Faraidooni, Chief Experience Officer at Expo 2020 Dubai and the driving force behind Alif, and Erik van der Schaft, Alif’s...

In 1325, a young scholar by the name of Ibn Battuta left his home in Morocco, to join a convoy headed to Mecca. He was to perform the Muslim Pilgrimage of Hajj and, at the time, the journey was expected to last over a year. But, Ibn Battuta would not return home for another 28 years. He continued a lifelong journey and travelled 120,000 kilometres which is enough to circle the world 3 times.    In the second episode of our two-part Mobility series, we look at the lives of three...

The UK pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai centres around the concept of a collective message to space. To do this, the UK pavilion is using an artificial intelligence software that actually thinks of and writes out poems. This power of connecting minds from around the globe, to input diverse data points and create a pattern of some kind, is at the root of artificial intelligence. This is what makes a melting pot like Expo 2020 Dubai an ideal incubator to showcase and experiment with AI.   This...

How do you design the right entrance into the city of the future - and Expo?  Imagine that you are walking through an enormous gate made of fine lines of structure. It is as if you are walking through a 3D Mashrabiya… immersed in its light, shade and airflow aesthetics. And as you walk away, the portal transfers you into a courtyard filled with trees.  This is the main entrance to Expo 2020 Dubai. In part one of our three-part series exploring architecture at Expo, we will come closer to...

The journey of Al Wasl, the beating heart of Expo, lasted five years — from conception all the way to the moment it was crowned. At 67.5 meters tall and 130-meters wide, it’s the world's largest 360-degree projection surface. But what makes Al Wasl so distinct is that it isn’t just a dome. It’s also a plaza. A place of gathering. In Arabic, Al Wasl means connection. It links all of Expo’s three thematic districts: sustainability, mobility and opportunity. In part two of our three-part series...

Surreal is a bedazzling water feature at the centre of Expo 2020 Dubai. As one of the highlight attractions on the Expo grounds, Surreal brings together an intricate system of engineering with an ambitious architectural design and beautiful musical compositions in one piece. And it continues to attract, amaze and entertain visitors every day.   In the final part of our three-part series exploring architecture at Expo, we're diving deep into how Surreal came to be and the splash it created...

What is it that makes our prehistoric origins so fascinating to us? Why do we go to such great lengths to visit and document the ancient skeletal remains of an ancestral human species? And what is the significance of curating this moment in our past at Expo 2020 Dubai? Travel into the past through the Ethiopian and Serbian pavilions as they showcase the importance of prehistoric times.   This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Throughout history, different cultures have informed each other in ways that create new forms of communication, of expression, of existence. Everything from the Mexican taco to contemporary pop music is the result of cultural fusion and, in a way, it feels like the potential for these combos is endless.    So what happens when you bring 192 unique countries together in the same place? Across pavilions at Expo, neighboring hosts talk to each other. They are never neighbors around the world....

On the night of September 30th, 2021, people everywhere watched as the first World Expo in the region commemorated a historic milestone as Expo 2020 Dubai was officially declared open.    At the heart of the Opening Ceremony is a young girl who becomes the protagonist in this inaugural moment of Expo 2020 Dubai. She presents the uplifting, never-stopping curiosity of Dubai. Through this narrative that unfolds inside the beating heart of the site, Al Wasl Plaza, she guides us to a picture...

Sofia is a grade 10 student who loves to bike. She is also the innovator behind Darraja, a wearable solution that increases bikers’ safety. Darraja is on display along with 297 other innovations at the ground floor of Terra - the Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Those innovations were designed and implemented by students within the Young Innovators Initiative, part of the Expo School Programme.  In this episode, we will see Expo 2020 Dubai from the eyes of the young ones and how...

So much of Expo’s public realm was designed to inspire a sense of child-like wonder, from the biggest architectural marvel to the smallest tile on the ground. The Expo is full of Easter eggs! These small things that help give this material space a character. A soul. In today’s episode, we go on an Easter egg hunt as we see, hear, smell, touch, and feel all the details that make Expo 2020 Dubai the lived-in city that it is. What stories do the small things tell, and how do they make this place...

Over 192 countries are participating in Expo 2020 Dubai, with over 60 unique daily events in a space that is twice the size of Monaco. But how do you capture the magnitude and magic of this 182-day mega event?   This process of ‘telling’ the story of Expo requires large teams that work behind the scenes. In this episode, we’ll uncover the ‘how’ of Expo stories; we’ll hear from the communications team drafting the messages, the media specialists setting up their operations, and, of course,...

Jason and Cesar have each visited multiple World Expos throughout their lives, including Expo 2020 Dubai. With each Expo, they travel the world over the span of a few days - without even setting foot on an airplane. But it’s more than just a trip for them - it’s an experience. In this episode, we hear from Expo superfans, as they share their favorite stories, the work they do to keep the legacy of Expos alive, and why you should become an Expo superfan yourself.  This podcast is by Expo...

In part two of our three-part series exploring music at Dubai’s Expo, we’re talking about “This is Our Time” - the official theme song for Expo 2020 Dubai.    As the official song for the first Expo event in the Arab world, the significance of “This is Our Time” spreads far and wide. While this was the first Expo theme song to have Arab musical influences, it drew inspiration from many other theme songs in history that blended local and international music. It was a worldwide collaborative...

In the final episode of our three-part series exploring the music of Dubai’s Expo: the story of Al Wasl Opera, an original opera commissioned by Expo 2020 Dubai.   Al Wasl is the first ever Emirati opera, produced in partnership with the world-renowned Welsh National Opera. Its story spans the past, present, and future of the United Arab Emirates and asks the questions: what is Al Wasl - the link - between us as humans? Between us and our planet? Between connecting today’s minds and...