Director's Report May 1st to June 17th

To Director's Blog Readers'

I apologize that I took a two month break in writing the blog. The last two months have been very intense and I was not able to keep up with the blog.  Things have calmed down a bit and I have finished the two courses I was taking at BGU - Quantative Research Methods and Evolutionary Ecology, so I will try to go back to producing the blog about once every two weeks.  The following report is not everything that has happened in the past two months but some of the major highlights.

Arava Institute student receives prestigious award for hydrogen production research


The World Renewable Energy Congress 2011 (WREC 2011) is an international scientific event that occurs once every two years. Most of the topics in the WREC 2011 focused on renewable energy technology and renewable energy applications. Arava Institute Ben-Gurion University Joint Master’s student, Bara Wahbeh had the chance to present his Master’s research; “Hydrogen Production by Boron Hydrolysis” that he is performing at the Arava Institute under the guidance of Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, the Arava Institute’s Director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation. The research simulates Hydrogen production in a car, by reacting steam with boron particles, the products of this reaction are Hydrogen gas, steam and boric acid (no green house gases are produced). During Bara’s presentation at the conference, he also discussed the advantages of Boron over other elements and compounds, as well as the hydrolysis technology compared to other technologies that are used to produce Hydrogen. Hydrogen production on board a car can overcome some of the obstacles facing Hydrogen use in vehicles such as the need for infrastructure to supply and store Hydrogen fuel. Bara’s paper was selected by the scientific committee of the conference as the winner of the “Best Paper Award within the topic Fuel Cells”.



Peace Building and Environmental Leadership Seminar (PELS) Trip

From May 18th to the 20th, Arava Institute students went on a three day study trip. It started off with a hike on the ridge of Machtesh Ramon. Following that the students headed to the Sderot-Gaza area where they went to Moshav Netiv HaAsara, along the Gaza-Israel border. While there, they met with members of Other Voice, an organization that was created three years ago to continue dialogue and contact between Gazans and Israelis from the Sderot area. Besides hearing from Israeli members of Other Voice, the students were also able to speak with an individual from Gaza in order to get an idea of what the conflict is like there. Later in the day the students met with 9th graders from a regional school in Sderot. The students asked them questions ranging from what they think their government should be doing to help them to asking what it was like during Operation Cast Lead. The final part of the day in Sderot consisted of going to the JNF Sderot Indoor Recreational Center which is an indoor protected playground for the children of Sderot. The students organized and environmental art project with them the children. That evening the students spent the night at the Adamama Ecological Center in Netivot.

The next day the students travelled to the West Bank to the archeological site of the ancient village of Susya in the southern Hebron mountain region, where they were given a tour from a resident of the nearby Jewish settlement of Susya. The students saw the ancient synagogue and walked through some of the underground buildings. Students also asked questions about what it is like living in a settlement and how did the settlers from Susya get along with their Palestinian neighbors. After that, the students went to the Palestinian village of Susya which is next to the Jewish settlement. They received a tour from Arava alumni, Yair Teller and Abeer Abu-Sara of the bio-digester project that Arava Alumni projects has created and spoke to the villagers. The students learned about ongoing issues with the settlers. The students met members of the Villagers Group, an organization of Israelis and others who are working to help villages like Susya. The Palestinian villagers of Susya have set up a community center, which hosts groups and has programs throughout the year. The students split up into three different groups. One group went to plant trees that were donated by Dr. Elaine Solowey, another group worked on an environmental art project and the last group played with children from the village. At one point, students witnessed a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians over where the settlers' sheep could graze. That evening the students were divided and hosted by families where they had dinner and slept.

The final day of the trip was in Jerusalem where the students met outside the Knesset with Likud Knesset Member Benny Begin, who gave an impassioned speech about what he believes, are the history and truths of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following MK Begins talk, the students heard from Christopher Gunness, a spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The students received an in depth briefing of the situation for the refugees in Gaza and in the West Bank and were very interested in what he had to say. The PELS trip was a unique opportunity for Arava Institute students to hear a wide range of narratives from Israeli’s and Palestinians. Report submitted by Josh Neirman.



Alumni Gathering in Jerusalem

The Alumni Department spent many hours over the month working on the submission of permit requests for Palestinians to attend the International AAPEN Gathering hosted by the Israel AAPEN Committee in late May. Additionally, visa requests were made for several Jordanian alumni. The visas and permits were received in time for the alumni to attend the gathering in Jerusalem. The International AAPEN Gathering took place on May 27-28, in Jerusalem. The main goal of the event was a social gathering with the possibility of discussions for developing regional activities. Around 50 people attended the gathering which included a number of workshops, meetings and discussions. Alumna Inna Filkovski led a gender circle, Assaf Katz and Liel Maghen facilitated a communication circle about the current situation in the Middle East, and Yoel Vierba helped organize and facilitate a session to focus alumni towards creating a new project. The gathering ended with a high level of energy and a feeling of family, new connections made amongst alumni from different years of study, and a team of people formed to plan the next social gathering.



AIES Night

On Monday, June 6th the Arava Institute held this semester's AIES night when students present their research from Independent Study and Masters Research. This semester there were five poster presentations and over twenty power point presentations. The students received high praise from their instructor, Dr. Clive Lipchin and the Director of the Academic Program, Dr. Elli Groner. The event lasted close to 4 hours but the time seemed to fly by, as each presentation was well thought out and interesting. The topics ranged from the feasibility of implementing a carbon tax in Jordan to hydrogen production via metal hydrolysis. It was a pleasant evening and included great desserts provided by AIES staff. The audience consisted of students, staff, kibbutz members and residents from the region. Report submitted by Josh Neirman

David Lehrer

Weekly Report August 15th -27th, 2010

• On Sunday, August 15th, the Steering Committee for the Arava Center for Sustainable Development (ACSD) met with Professor Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders EWB USA and EWB International http://www.ewb-international.org/ and Dr Vered Doctori founder of EWB Israel.  Professor Amadei presented the history and activity EWB in the USA and around the world.  Dr Doctori presented the work of EWB Israel is in the process of becoming its own registered association in Israel and has established a number of chapters on campuses around the country. Dr. Doctori proposed establishing a chapter of EWB at the Arava Institute.  We discussed different ways for EWB and the Arava Institute (AIES) to cooperate through ACSD.  We also discussed involving our alumni in the chapter. Amit Eliyahu, the new coordinator of ACSD initiated the visit and he will continue to develop the cooperation between EWB and ACSD. 
• Kibbutz Ketura and Keren Kolot hosted the Red Sea College - Arava Valley of Peace Summer program http://redsea-college.org/ of about 30 Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and international high school students (16 to 17 year old). The summer program is part of the United World College organization http://www.uwc.org/ which has established international high schools around the world  whose goal is "to deliver a challenging and transformative educational experience to a diverse cross section of students, inspiring them to create a more peaceful and sustainable future". The longterm vision of the Red Sea College is to build an environmental high school program in the Arava that brings Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and students from all over the world to learn how to work together to protect their shared environment.  Sound familiar?  Though the program was hosted by Keren Kolot, the Arava Institute was involved in the program and the long term goal is to create a permanent framework for cooperation between the newly planned international high school and the institute.  The summer program is a pilot program and was considered very successful.  The expectation is that the summer program will continue every summer until the establishment of the high school is feasible.
• Though there are no students during the summer, the Academic Programs Department was not quiet.  In addition to the usual activity of preparing for the coming semester and the recruiting students there has been a great deal of activity in human resources:
• Moishe Siel, the Program Director for the last three years announced that he was leaving Kibbutz Samar, his home and moving away from the area.  He therefore, sadly announced his resignation as Program Director.  The Human Resources Committee has recommended that Cathie Granit, currently the Academic Coordinator replace Moishe as Program Director.  In addition, Brenda Hausler has been hired as Admissions Coordinator and Barbara Finkel as the new Campus Life Director.  Dr. Elli Groner, remains the Academic Director and will be overseeing a practically all new excellent all female Academic Programs Department Staff.  Good luck Elli!
• Shira Kronich sent me the following update on her trip to Brazil with Dr. Shmuel Brenner:
• Dr. Shmuel Brenner and Shira Kronich were invited to participate as a speakers in the Second International Conference on Climate, Sustainability and Development in Semi-arid Regions (ICID 2010), in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. ICID18 conference aimed to create a space for the intensive and productive exchange of new ideas and experiences. As a platform for the production of knowledge, to enable discussions throughout the week to result in new ways of living on earth that promote cultural diversity and leverage the social and natural sciences toward integrative, innovate and sustainable new development pathways. On day 2 AIES presented 'The whole life cycle approach to capacity building in Semi arid lands; a case study of Sauri, Kenya'.
  
  
  
  
  
  This presentation aimed to discuss and share AIES ideas and the experience of the Arava Centre for Sustainable Development (ACSD) in transferring its expertise – in agricultural techniques, integrated water management, renewable energy systems, sustainable development, ecosystem protection and climate change effects in semi-arid lands – to developing countries facing conditions of poverty, food insecurity, desertification and water problems. The presentation described ACSD’s interdisciplinary, trans-boundary, whole life cycle approach to addressing environmental and social problems and then explores specifically the ACSD capacity building workshops in Sauri. The workshops focused on increasing agricultural yield and accessing the market as well as optimizing water use for domestic and agricultural purposes. The ultimate objective of the presentation was to discuss the potential and limitations of the whole life cycle approach to development in semi-arid lands and share ACSD's lessons learnt and future goals.  
• On Monday, August 23rd, Hamutal Lerner from Midot, the Israeli non-profit organization that rates non-profit organizations in Israel, spent time at the institute reviewing our performance, interviewing staff members and getting updated on changes that have taken place at the institute since the last time Midot performed a rating review two years ago. At that time, the institute received a very high rating of -A.  We certainly expect our rating to remain the same or to improve in this next review.
• Tuesday, August 24th, Dr. Shmuel Brenner, straight back from Brazil, Dr. Clive Lipchin and I met in Jerusalem at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Ambassador Haim Divon, Direcor of MASHAV Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, with Ilan Flus, Bat Eden Kite and other MASHAV staff as well as private consultant Dr. Tamar Ron, expert on international development and conservation programs.  The purpose of the meeting was to review Dr. Ron's proposal to set up the Israel Center for Sustainable Development through Environmental Cooperation (ICSD).  The purpose of the new center which would be part of MASHAV is:  To strengthen Israel’s role in achieving global environmental and sustainable development goals. To support sustainability in achieving the environmental conventions’ goals in developing countries, through establishment of bi-lateral partnerships, with focus on developing and delivering tailor-made comprehensive capacity building programs in cooperation and consultation with governments, organizations, communities and other stakeholders in specific countries.  The Arava Institute has been proposed as the primary partner for this new Israeli Foreign Ministry initiative as the operational center of the program.  This is a very exciting development and the ACSD team will discuss the proposal and how best to design the framework for cooperation with the Ministry.
• The Sababa Steering Committee met on Wednesday night at the Eilat/Eilot Renewable Energy Initiative Offices. The agenda included a review of the Hevel Eilot Regional Master Plan for development in the Arava and a presentation of the Open Spaces Rating System being used to determine the value of areas arond the Arava for development and conservation.  The Hevel Eilot region covers 13% of the land of the State of Israel including much of the countries last remaining wilderness, therefore, it is the responsibility of the region to be very thoughtfull regarding development and conservation decisions which are critical to the future natural resources of the country.  The Sababa Steering Committee takes this responsibility very seriously and will issue a statement regarding the proposed master plan and how the Open Spaces Rating system should be used.
• On Thursday, Shlomit Yarkoni, from Ben Or Consulting, spent the day at the institute meeting with staff in preparation for the Israeli Financial Resource Development Work Plan, Ben Or will present in September to the institute.  

David Lehrer

Weekly Report June 20th - July 2nd, 2010

It has been a very busy two weeks:

• On June 21st and 22nd, I attended the 38th annual conference of the Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences.   A number of Arava Institute faculty attended the conference including Elli Groner, the Arava Institue Academic Director, Shmuel Brenner, Nir Becker, Donny Ornstein and of course Alon Tal.  In addition to faculty a large number of Arava Institute alumni also attended the confernce which brings together Israel's leading academic and professional ecologists and environmentalists to discuss current research in the field.  Shmuel Brenner and Alon Tal appeared on the main panel discussing nuclear energy in Israel.  I gave a presentation of my research on the economic impact of invasive species. 
• Immediately after I gave my presentation, I left the confernce in order to catch my flight to Sri Lanka where I had been invited to attend a workshop sponsored by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to discuss the report that IWMI is preparing for UNEP on the role of ecosystems in providing clean water and other ecoservices for agriculture.  The institue was asked to participate in the writing of the report which is a collaborative work by research institutes around the globe.  It was very exciting for me to visit Sri Lanka as it was my first venture to the Far East.  The people I met both from Sri Lanka and from the research institutes were great.  The meetings were held in Colombo which is the capital of Sri Lanka and the home of the IWMI.  I had one day for site seeing but as it was a Budhist holiday, the shopping was limited.  I was able to visit a Budhist Temple for the first time in my life.  See trip report.  

• This same week, Clive Lipchin, Shira Kronich and Yair Teller took off for Kenya.  Through its new center, the Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands (ACSDAL), the institute has partnered with MASHAV - Israel's development aid department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to run 2 week long courses on water management in Sauri, a rural area of Kenya which suffers from a lack of infrastructure; electricity, water and roads.  Clive, Shira and Yair will be running a course on water management for households and small farms using a rainwater harvesting and treatment system developed especially for this project by an Israeli company called Shamraz.  The demonstration project was first set up at the institue and then shipped to Kenya.  In addition to the course, Clive will be holding meetings with additional contacts in Kenya as well as making a trip to Tanzinia to meet with Sivan Achor-Borowitch, founder of Jewish Hearts for Africa, regarding the establishment of an eco-village.
• The week of June 20th to the 24th was also the final week of the semester at the institute.  Students completed their papers and took final exams.  They spent the week cleaning the campus and meeting with staff in order to give feedback about the semester.  As usual, the students expressed overwhelming satisfaction in their experience at the institute along with suggestions for improvement.  The final party was held on Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon after a very tearful goodbye, most students got on the bus and left.  

• On Sunday June 27th, the staff said goodbye to Amit Chertoff our Student Life Coordinator and our two Program Associates, Yousre Odeh and Lauren Rauch.  Though the academic year 2009-2010 presented its challenges, it was very successful and much credit goes to Amit, Yousre and Lauren as well as Michelle Shachar, Student Life Director and the other members of the Academic Staff.  The institute wishes Amit, Yousre and Lauren lots of luck and hopes to see them back at the institute soon.
• On Wednesday night, June 30th, Sababa held its monthly steering committee meeting.  The committee was updated on a number of initiatives such as the initiative to list Timna Valley as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, meetings with the secretariats of the kibbutzim in the area, and the Timna hotel campaign.  In addition, Avi Ramot, from the regional council water authority spoke about the planned new water reservoirs in the region.  The committee then discussed the main issue of the meeting, the Samar Sand Dunes and the contractor's request for a building a mining permit.  Taal Goldman and I updated the committee on what is happening and the committee decided to issue a letter to the region urging action to delay the issuing of the permit.
• Professor Emeritus, Frank Fisher from MIT arrived on Wednesday night in order to meet with staff and discuss opportunities for collaboration.  Professor Fisher is an economist who has worked on the issue of trans-boundary water management between Israel, Palestine and Jordan.  Professor Fisher and his colleagues at MIT have developed a computer model that serves as a decision support system for water and resource allocation in the Middle East.  Professor Fisher would like to work with the Arava Institute in updating the model (the information is 10 years old) and expanding to other countries in the region.  Professor Fisher is on the Board of the New Israel Fund and the American Friends of Peace Now.  Professor Fisher has also recently become involved in the new JNF Parsons Water Fund.

David Lehrer
 

Weekly Report April 11th - 23rd

A letter I send last Thursday to all of our students:

Dear Students,

The period during the semester after the Jewish Holiday of Pesach is filled with national holidays and remembrance days. It is always a very difficult time at the Arava Institute where students from different backgrounds try to balance their national loyalties with a sensitivity to the feelings and narratives of their fellow students and friends. This is not an easy task and I truly admire the ability of the students and the academic staff "to hold it together" during this sometimes tense and uncomfortable period.

Israel's Independence celebrations start with a full day of remembering the fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their country. Memorial Day is a very emotional day and one of the more difficult days for students at the institute. It is a day which we Israelis spend looking inward at our own pain and suffering. During this year's kibbutz ceremonies, I was strongly struck by the fact that little was mentioned of the other side, neither as the enemy or as the victim. It was as if the other side did not exist and all of those soldiers died in a vacuum disconnected from our struggle with the Arab people. Finally at the end of the Memorial Day ceremonies on Ketura, a quote was read from the speech of then IDF Chief of Staff, Yitzchak Rabin, on the occasion of receiving an honorary doctorate from Hebrew University in 1967 after the Six Day War:
"Moreover, the elation of victory has seized the whole nation. Yet among the soldiers themselves a curious phenomenon is to be observed increasingly. They cannot rejoice wholeheartedly. Their triumph is marred by grief and shock, and there are some who cannot rejoice at all. Those battling in the front lines saw with their own eyes not only the glory of victory, but also its cost -- their comrades fallen beside them soaked in blood. I know that the terrible price the enemy paid has also profoundly affected many of our men. Perhaps the education and the experience of the Jewish people has never brought it to feel the joy of the conqueror and the victor, and therefore the matter is accepted with mixed feelings."
Yitzchak Rabin, Hebrew University, 1967
So it took the Israeli Army's Chief of Staff to remind us of the terrible price that not only Israelis paid but the price the Arab people paid in this struggle. Recognizing the other sides pain and suffering is not a simple matter. We somehow feel that if we recognize the other sides' s pain and grief, we are justifying their actions. At the Arava Institute we continue to struggle to look for an appropriate way to recognize the pain of both sides. As such, we will soon commemorate Naqba Day and we will once again be reminded of the terrible toll this struggle has taken on the Palestinian people.
If it is difficult to share in each other's grief and suffering, how much more difficult is it to share in each other's joy? Yesterday was a day of celebration for the Israeli/Jewish people. The day we celebrate our freedom and independence. In Hebrew there is something we say to people who congratulate us on a joyous occasion. We say to them – "Bakarov etzlecha" – literally meaning "soon by you" but really meaning "may you too have a similar reason to celebrate".
So to our Israeli and Jewish students I say "Hag Sameach" – Happy Holiday and to our Palestinian students I say "Bakarov etzlecha!". To all our students I wish a blessing of peace.
David

• During this intense and tense period of time, students and staff grappled with the issues around the Holocaust Remembarance Day, the Israeli Memorial Day and Israeli Independence Day. The height of intensity was on the evening of Israeli Memorial Day when a group of Palestinian, Israeli and American students organized a memorial service which honored and remembered Israeli soldiers and Israeli and Palestinian victims of violence. Not a simple feat and not without disagreements and tender emotions. Yet as I said in my letter, the students and staff manage to hold it together which is a feat in itself.


• On Wednesday, April 13th, the new Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands invited Sivan Borowich-Ya'ari, founder and President of Jewish Hearts for Africa, a non-profit organization that is trying to bring appropriate and sustainable Israeli technology to help rural villages in Africa www.jhasol.org. After presenting the work of the Arava Institue and Jewish Hearts for Africa we discussed how the two organizations could work togehter. It seems like there are many possibilities including working together on supplying sustainable technology, organizing teaching and volunteering as well as the possibility of working toegether on an ecovillage in Africa. We will continue to be in touch with Sivan in order to see how partnering can create synergy.


• Pua Bar-Kutiel, the new Academic Coodinator appointed by Ben-Gurion University spent a few days at the institue, teaching Ecology class, meeting with students about continued studies at BGU and meeting with staff in order discuss how to move forward on the Minor in Environmental Studies and a new Masters in Environmental Policy. Pua had an excellent visit and seems very enthusiastic about working with the institute.


• On Thursday, Lucien and Yehudit Bronicki, the founders and heads of Ormat Technologies, an Israeli company that is a world leader in geothermal energy brought 200 employees from their Israeli headquarters in Yavne down to visit the Arava Institue and other renewable energy projects in the region. After a lunch served by Keren Kolot, the kibbutz guest house, Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed from the Arava Institute's Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation and Noam Ilan and William Weistinger from the Eilat Eilot Renewable Energy Initiative gave the Ormat Technology employees a tour of the new Technology Validation Center.

Lucien and Yehudit Bronicki with Tareq Abu Hamed

• On the following Sunday, the members of the Arava Renewable Energy Technology Center Consortium that is competing for the Israeli Ministry of Infrastructure's tender on the establishment of a renewable energy technology center (incubator) in Israel visited the institue and held its first Board Meeting at the offices of the Hevel Eilot Regional Council. Members of the consortium include Ormat Technologies, Elbit, Rafael, the Eilat Eilot Renewable Energy Initiative, a number of investment and finace companies, Ben-Gurion University and the Arava Institue for Enviornmental Studies (0.78% equity). If the consortium wins the Ministry of infrastructure's tender, a renewable energy technology center will be set up in the Arava. The purpose of the center is to enable start-up's in renewable energy by providing funding, space and know-how. Most of these start-ups will end up nowhere but a small percentage will succeed and the consortium will then own part of these successful new business.


• Elli Groner, the Director of the Academic Programs, celebrated with his wife Zoe and their two children, Andy and Alona, the birth of a new baby girl, Yasmin. On wednesday, we raised a toast to Zoe, the new baby and the population explosion at the Groner house.


• Last week we recieved sad news when we heard that one past members of Garin Hashachar and a good friend of the Arava Institute, Howie Katz, passed away suddenly. We would like to express our condolences to Howie's wife, Jackie, to his family and his friends.

David Lehrer

Weekly Report February 21st to 26th

• 42 students arrived this week for the start of the spring semester 2010.Students came down to the institute by bus on Sunday afternoon. They arrived a few kilometers away from the institute at Nahal Kisui, a beautiful spot in the hills behind Kibbutz Ketura where silky sand blown from the coast of Egypt covers bare sand stone rock. The bus dropped off the students and they hiked the rest of the way to the institute getting their first view of Kibbutz Ketura from high atop the mountain that overlooks the Arava. That evening, after settling in and eating dinner in the kibbutz dinning room, the student gathered in the kibbutz community center in order to meet each other and to meet the staff.
• The next day, the students were taken on a tour of the area which included visiting the International Birding Center in Eilat, hearing from Dr. Reuven Yosef, one of Israel’s leading ornithological experts and visiting the Hai Bar Nature Reserve just south of Yotvata.
  On Tuesday, Dr. Elli Groner, introduced the students to the Academic Program and then the students spent the rest of the day registering for courses, dealing with financial issues and receiving general orientation to the kibbutz and life at the institute. Wednesday morning classes began.
• Andrea Lieber from Dickenson College, Pennsylvania, visited the institute this week. The initial contact with Dickenson College was made through David Weisberg. Andrea and David are old friends. I visited Dickenson last September and encouraged Andrea to plan to visit the institute. What is intriguing about the college is the strong emphasis on sustainability and on students spending part of their studies abroad. While the college is small with only 2,200 students, 60% spend a semester or year abroad. Andrea met with students and staff. Miriam and I discussed the possibility of a summer program with Dickenson and signing an agreement regarding transfer credit for the regular program.
• Wednesday night, Sababa, the Center for the Environment in the Arava, organized an urgent meeting about the threatened Samar Sand Dunes. The Samar Sand Dunes are the last large block of sand dunes on the Israeli side of the border housing a unique ecosystem with endemic species to the Arava. The dunes are threatened by a decision to mine 1/3 of the sand to use as building material for housing in Eilat. Sababa opposes this decision and organized a special action committee to try to stop the proposed mining.

David Lehrer

Weekly Report Jan 21st - 28th

Week ly Report January 21st – 29th

• This was the final week of the fall semester. The students spent the week, taking final exams, finishing papers, preparing for the final party and cleaning the campus.
• The students had their final party Tuesday night. Cecil Rimer handed out funny awards to each student – these were special achievement awards, with each student receiving recognition for some personal stand-out characteristic that has earned them fame (or notoriety) at AIES. Students also received a copy of the Yalla yearbook, full of memories and also a bit of gossip. There was dancing, karaoke, live music provided by the students and a full barbecue dinner. A good time was had by all.
• The students are now off for a three week break. Spring semester starts on February 24th. We expect once again to have over 40 students.
  

In addition to the Academic Program, a number of important meetings took place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ber Sheva.

• On Monday morning, Miriam, Elad and I met with our PR Consultants, Ben Or to discuss plans for the coming year. The calendar of events for 2010 looks packed and filled with opportunities for engaging the media.
• The next day, Elad and I met with the staff from the Heschel Center to discuss the new Sustainable Food Initiative that the Institute and Heschel are planning on launching this year in light of the very successful Food Conference held last November. The initiative will try to raise awareness about the need for a more sustainable, healthy, equitable and carbon reduced food supply in Israel. The team spent a lot of time discussing other partners for the inititative.
• On Wednesday, the Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC) Steering Committee met at Hebrew University to review last year's achievements and the current research. The committee discussed some of the challenges facing the proposed Energy and the Environment Masters Degree program and went over the committee's job description. The CREEC Steering Committee is chaired by Professor Yaakov Karni from the Weizmann Institute. Many of Israelis leading experts in renewable energy are members of the committee.
• Following the CREEC Steering Committee meeting, the Academic Advisory Board met to review the work plans of the Academic Department and the Research Department. Dr. Elli Groner, the Academic Director, went over plans for developing new programs and Dr. Clive Lipchin presented current research programs at the institute.
• Finally on Thursday, Jonathan Schiff, the Institute's lawyer, and I met with, Professor Jimmy Weinblatt, the Rector of BGU, Professor Shaul Krakover, the Dean of the Eilat campus and the university's lawyer to finalize financial and legal issues in the new agreement. All outstanding issues have been resolved opening up the door for implementing the new agreement as of next semester.
• Finally, through a connection with Dr. Donny Ornstein, one of our faculty, the Arava Alumni Peace and Environmental Network has been given the opportunity to host Alan Weissman, the author of the best selling book, "The World Without Us" at the February Alumni Conference in Aqaba.

David Lehrer

Weekly Report November 29th - December 11th, 2009

OK - it has been two weeks since I have had a chance to write something for the blog.

• In fact the week of November 29th to the 4th was a fairly quite week at the institute. The students were all studying, the staff members were all working and meeting. The only exciting thing that happened that week was on Shabbat, I rode my bike to Eilat and then went diving.

Last week however was a bit more exciting.

• Cecil and Sharon spent Sunday and Monday interviewing 20 Jordanian students in Amman.
• On Monday night, a tremendous amount of rain poured from the skies all over Israel including in the Negev and the Arava. On Tuesday morning on my way to an 8:30 meeting with Avigad Vornshak, the Director of the Blaustein Institutes at the Sde Boker Campus of BGU, I came to Nahal Faran, which looked like the Colorado river. I could not cross the Nahal and it did not look like the water would subside any time soon. I turned my car around and drove back to the Arava road (route 90) and headed north. I turned off at the Maaleh Acrabim (Scorpion's Ascent) road. It is an amazing back road climb out of the Arava Valley onto the Negev Heights plain. The road is a narrow twisting steep climb of a few hundred feet almost straight up. At the top, I continued on through the Big Machtesh (Crater) finally arriving at Yeroham. This is the route we once sent the Chalutzim Riders on the 2007 Israel Ride (there is a reason we call them the Meshugaim). I was finally able to get to Sde Boker only a half hour late.
• Elli Groner and I met Avigad Vornshak. We had an excellent meeting in which we worked out the kinks of the financial arrangements for the Masters Program for North American students, discussed how to move forward on the Energy and the Environment Masters Program and discussed the possibility of collaborating on an Israel Studies program.
• Wednesday morning, Elli and I met with Shaul Krakover, the Dean of the BGU Eilat campus in order to finalize the details of the legal agreement that we are signing with BGU.
• That same morning, Professor Pua Bar (Kutiel) the new Academic Coordinator from BGU gave a lecture to our Masters students at their weekly Masters Seminar. Professor Bar (Kutiel) is an Ecologist in the BGU Geography department in Ber Sheva.
• In the afternoon, over 20 people attended the brainstorming session on the establishment of the Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands. Dr. Shmuel Brenner will head the new center which is a partnership with the Southern Arava Research and Development Center at Yotvata and the Dead Sea Arava Science Center. The new center will provide research, training programs and extensions services to developing countries around the world suffering from a lack of water and desertification. The center will partner with the Israeli Foreign Ministry on the Millennium Villages project as well as other partner organizations.
• Thursday afternoon, the Academic Department held an open day and hosted 10 potential Israeli students at the institute. The potential students met current students, staff, were interviewed and tested for English proficiency.
• Friday afternoon, the Arava Alumni Peace and Environmental Network (AAPEN) Alumni Conference subcommittee met on Skype in order to plan for the Alumni Conference in February.

David Lehrer