Terra Expo City Dubai has launched Know Your Roots, encouraging UAE students to document family stories connected to plants and heritage.
DUBAI: Terra at Expo City Dubai has launched Know Your Roots, a new initiative inviting students across the UAE to explore family traditions and cultural memories connected to plants through short documentary films.
The programme, introduced during the UAE’s Year of Family, is open to students aged 14 and above from all nationalities living in the country. Participants are encouraged to interview parents, grandparents and community members to uncover how plants have influenced food, healing, traditions and everyday life across generations.
Know Your Roots aims to create a long-term archive of stories that highlight the relationship between people and nature across different cultures. Organisers said selected films will be showcased during a special event at Terra, while all approved submissions will feature across future exhibitions, educational programmes and digital platforms.
The initiative also supports Terra’s wider environmental strategy focused on preserving native and culturally important plant species. Examples highlighted include miswak, traditionally used as a natural toothbrush, and salt cedar, a resilient plant long associated with survival in arid environments.
Marjan Faraidooni, Chief of Education and Culture at Expo City Dubai, said traditional knowledge about plants has historically been passed through families and daily rituals, but much of that information risks disappearing over time. She said Know Your Roots gives young people an opportunity to reconnect with these stories while helping preserve cultural heritage for future generations.
The project draws inspiration from ethnobotany, the study of how people interact with plants, combining science with storytelling to strengthen awareness of environmental conservation and cultural identity.
Know Your Roots submissions can feature stories connected to plants from any country, reflecting the UAE’s multicultural society. All entries must be submitted by a parent or teacher before the 12 June 2026 deadline.
