ASTANA – Astana’s General Education School No. 101 has been named one of three finalists representing Europe and Central Asia in the Global High Schools category of the 2027 Zayed Sustainability Prize, organizers announced.
General Education School No.101, Astana, a public school in Kazakhstan with 3,800 students. Photo credit: zayedsustainabilityprize.com
The school was selected for an artificial intelligence-based system that monitors air quality in classrooms, allowing schools to detect changes in indoor conditions and respond before they affect the learning environment. The project is designed to help create safer and healthier conditions for students and teachers.
“General Education School No.101, Astana, a public school in Kazakhstan with 3,800 students, aims to develop an AI-supported indoor air quality system using LEGO Spike Prime and Raspberry Pi sensors to monitor classroom conditions and predict periods of poor air quality,” reads the official website of the prize.
The school is competing against Agrupamento de Escolas Gândara Mar of Portugal and Keban Multi-Program Anatolian High School of Türkiye. Overall, 18 schools from six regions were selected as finalists in the Global High Schools category.
The UAE-based award received a record 10,233 submissions from 177 countries in the 2027 cycle, up 32% from the previous year. Finalists were selected across six categories: health, food, energy, water, climate action and global high schools.
In January 2026, $5.9 million was awarded to 11 organizations and high schools from the UAE, Brazil, Canada, Nepal, Switzerland and Uganda across six sustainability categories. Photo credit: zayedsustainabilityprize.com
Other finalists include U.S.-based Elythea, which uses artificial intelligence to identify pregnancy complications using first-trimester data, and Japan’s TOWING, which uses biochar technology to improve soil health.
Each organizational finalist will receive $100,000, while school finalists will receive $25,000. Winners in the organizational categories will receive $1 million, while winning schools will receive $150,000.
The winners will be announced on Jan. 12, 2027 at the Awards Ceremony during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
“The most powerful solutions are those rooted in real-world needs,” said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Director General of the Prize.
The Zayed Sustainability Prize says projects supported through the award have reached more than 411 million people worldwide.
