ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 14, 2026--
Ruamrudee International School, based in Thailand, has been named the winner of the 2026 Zayed Sustainability Prize in the Global High Schools – East Asia & Pacific category. The school was recognised for its ‘Future of Good Life’ project, which tackles the environmental impact of rice farming through innovative water-saving techniques and carbon reduction strategies.
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The project introduces the Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method in rice cultivation and a student-developed low-cost sensor, RiceSense, which tracks water levels and GPS data to help farmers reduce methane emissions and qualify for carbon credits. Students are also leading farmer training and awareness initiatives to promote sustainable practices nationwide.
The project will benefit around 1,200 students and 150 teachers, provide farmer training to scale adoption and enable carbon credit participation, help farmers cut methane emissions by up to 40%, and save approximately 750 cubic metres of water per growing cycle.
Dr. Lamya Fawwaz, Executive Director of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, commended the school’s success: “The Zayed Sustainability Prize empowers young people to rethink the systems that sustain us. Ruamrudee International School’s students are combining innovation and local knowledge to make agriculture more sustainable and resilient. They are proving that today’s learners can be tomorrow’s leaders in sustainability.”
Dr. James (Jim) O’Malley, Principal of Ruamrudee International School, said: “We are extremely proud of our students for taking our school's name to the global stage through the ‘Future of Good Life’ project. Their ability to combine creativity and empathy into something that transforms the meaning of sustainable farming is astonishing. Being recognised as a finalist for the Zayed Sustainability Prize motivates our entire school community to keep developing changemakers for a sustainable tomorrow.”
The US $150,000 award will enable the school to expand its sensor technology, enhance its environmental education programmes, and strengthen partnerships with local farmers to scale sustainable rice cultivation across Thailand.
The Zayed Sustainability Prize honours organisations and high schools driving impactful and innovative solutions across the categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action, and Global High Schools. Since its inception, the Prize has positively impacted the lives of over 400 million people worldwide, carrying forward the visionary legacy of the UAE’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Since 2013, the Prize has awarded 68 high schools under its Global High Schools category from countries in the following regions: The Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Europe & Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia & Pacific. To date, the Prize’s Global High Schools winners have impacted the lives of over 56,599 students and 480,660 people in their wider communities.
Source:AETOSWire
2026 Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony (Photo: AETOSWire)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.
“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
