What can ancient wisdom teach us about sustainability?

Sustainability is often viewed through a futuristic prism, yet what we often miss is that ancient wisdom can hold important lessons. The struggle to be more sustainable is a relatively new phenomenon, but inspiration can be drawn from ancient farming and water management techniques. Innovation and technology can help us adapt these techniques to meet our present-day needs.

Situated in the northwest corner of Saudi Arabia, the AlUla valley has seen at least 200,000 years of human history. One of the reasons people gathered here for millennia was because of the relative abundance of water in an otherwise arid environment. When long-term climate patterns meant less rainfall from the 5^th millennium B.C., however, our ancestors in AlUla had to find ways to use this resource with minimal waste.

First, they dug wells. Then they developed an ingenious technique called qanat. Fortunately, Abdullah Nasif, an AlUla native and professor of archaeology at King Saud University, collected information on the qanat in the 1970s before their abandonment.

The technique involves digging a well at an elevated point in the landscape where the water table is easily reached, such as the base of a hill. Then, using a row of vertical shafts for access, digging an underground horizontal channel leading to settlements and fields at lower ground. Gravity is the channel’s engine.

Integrated sustainability means not only integrating the economy with nature and society but also integrating the past with the present, the present with the future, and technology with culture.

This point was made by William McDonough, a pioneer in this area, during the April 2021 session of Crossroads - a discussion forum that brings together industry leaders in art, nature, culture, tourism and heritage.

Indeed, the greening of AlUla is only one example on a global list of projects designed to capture a new balance in development. Other initiatives include the Great Green Wall of Africa, Pakistan's 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, Liuzhou Forest City in China, and the Saudi Green Initiative.

From responsible to sustainable development

AlUla’s commitment to integrated sustainability is outlined in the AlUla Sustainability Charter. Its 12 principles guide AlUla’s development to create a new path focused on protection and preservation. The charter sets out an innovative and integrated approach that marks a shift from responsible development to sustainable development.

Key elements include:

Infrastructure agreements signed in October 2021 with infrastructure firm AECOM and the French consortium Egis, further this commitment to sustainability and community inclusion. For example, AECOM's Sustainable Legacies strategy will work hand-in-glove with AlUla's Sustainability Charter.

Creating a sustainability oasis

One of our flagship projects, the Cultural Oasis, is a prime example of converting the charter into action. The project aspires to revive AlUla’s legacy as a prosperous agricultural heartland where for centuries farmers grew oranges, lemons, figs, pomegranates, chickpeas, barley and wheat. Our research shows that the advent of modern farming methods in the 20^th century caused the water table to descend, greatly reducing the scale of farming.

Research and innovative solutions will rehabilitate the land and reverse desertification of the area. The Royal Commission for AlUla has already started to deliver programmes as part of the Cultural Oasis project, including wadi clean-up; the Orange Path project, where guests can walk through a natural setting to a citrus market; the Incense Road Market activation; and the Madrasat AdDeera (AlUla Arts and Design Centre) programme, which promotes the production of local handicrafts.

Integrating the community

Part of an integrated approach means ensuring the community is on board and actively seeing the benefits of implementing more sustainable agricultural and environmental practices. In this regard, economic sustainability is critical. For many years, AlUla has had a stubbornly high unemployment rate (44.9% in 2019, for example, according to figures from the Kingdom's General Authority for Statistics). Advancing sustainable practices can be challenging as a result, particularly if people believe there will be a cost to their livelihoods.

In AlUla, our approach works on all fronts to deliver a balanced approach to sustainability and we have already seen the first shoots of growth. According to Saudi Central Bank data, point of sale transactions in AlUla County have risen from 0.86 million in 2018 to 5.22 million in 2020, and value-added tax collections during the same time span have risen from 21.9 million riyals ($5.5 million) to 45.3 million riyals ($12 million), according to the General Authority of Zakat & Tax.

By 2035, our target is that AlUla will have two million visitors a year, will have made a cumulative contribution of 120 billion riyals ($32 billion) to Saudi GDP, and created 38,000 jobs. These goals are ambitious, yet achievable. And the ripple effects on environmental and social sustainability will surely follow.

AlUla is not unique in its desire to pursue a more sustainable development trajectory, and we continue to learn about the evolving challenges as we work to transform the region into a thriving cultural oasis. AlUla’s advantage is that it is a relatively blank canvas on which to test new approaches to sustainable development, while also being surrounded by ancient wisdom. When you merge ancient wisdom and innovative technologies, boundless results can be achieved.