Weekly Report July 18th-30th, 2010

• Once every six months, Miriam Sharton, the Associate Director and I have a private feedback session with almost every member of the staff. Sometimes, Miriam and I sit together with a staff member and sometimes we meet seperately with an individual member. It is an opportunity for the staff member to raise issues, give feedback to the administration and in general express how they are feeling at the institute. It is also an opportunity for Mriiam and I to give feedback, both positive and negative to staff members basically to ensure that lines of communication remain open. This feedback system has been a tradition at the Arava Institute for almost 10 years and has been extremely helpful in flaging problems and maintaining a positive work atmosphere. This past week, Miriam and I met with about 25 staff members in order to give and receive feedback. Sometimes these sessions simple and sometimes they can be difficult but no matter what, they are always important.

• Clive Lipchin and Shira Kronich came back from Kenya where the Arava Institute ran a course on Rain Water Harvesting for two groups of farmers. The course was funded by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is part of a new initiative at the Arava Institute, headed by Dr. Shmuel Brenner, the Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands (ACSDAL) which provides training and extensions services to peoples from the developing world.

• During the week of July 18th to the 22nd, Arava Institute alumni, Yair Teller, Abeer Abu Sara and Leora Smith began a new alumni project in Susiya, a Palestinian Village in the West Bank building biodigesters to deal with the problem of animal waste while providing clean burning methane gas for cooking and heating. Leora and Abeer ran a parrallel environmental education program for children in order to expose them to environmental concepts.
• On Sunday, July 25th, Dr. Michael Beyth, the Chairman of the Arava Institute Board of Directors met with our two Israel resource development consultants, Neal Levy and Shlomit Yarkoni from Ben Or Consulting regarding our Israeli Resource Development Work Plan. We discussed different avenues for development in Israel and how to position the institute in terms of Israeli donors. We expect to receive the work plan by the end of September. 
• That afternoon, I stopped in on ECOWEEK, an international meeting of "green architects" who are spending the week looking at sustainable building design in Israel and Palestine. The Arava Institute is one of the sponsors of the conference. Judy Bar Lev, the institute's office manager and expert on Palestinian permits and Jordanian visas obtained permits for a number of Palestinian architects to attend the conference. One of whom is interested in coming to the institute in the fall. Donny Ornstein, an Arava Institute faculty member represented the institute at the opening session. http://www.ecoweek.netfirms.com/ecoweek.gr/ecoweek2010_BJ/index.html
• Tuesday, Friends of the Arava Institute (FAI) past Board Chair and current Board member, Eric Berzon and his wife Danielle Ruymaker arrived at the institute for a few days of meetings and relaxing. Eric and Danielle got a tour of the institute, met a number of different staff members, participated in a staff meeting and of course got a tour of Dr. Elaine Sollowey's experimental orchard.
• Another visitor on Tuesday was Sam Yosefowitz, from Switzerland, who together with Rennselar University would like to fund a project he calls, an Agricultural Oasis, an independent desert farm that provides itself with its own purified water and energy. If the institute receives the grant, the project will go under the auspices of ACSDAL and will be a partnership between the Arava Institue and the Southern Arava Agricultural R & D Center.

OK -that's about all I got - a relatively quite two weeks at the Arava Institute.

David Lehrer

Weekly Report July 4th- July 16th, 2010

• On Monday, July 5th, I spent the day in Jerusalem meeting with various people regarding a multitude of issues concerning the Institute.  In the morning I met with Yaakov Mimron and Yossi Vertzberger from the Ministry of Infrastrucure.  Yaakov is head of mining resources in Israel and Yossi, who works under him oversees sand mining. I met with them to discuss an alternative to sand mining of the Samar Sand Dunes, an important ecological resource in the Arava and one which is being threatened by a potential sand mining for building operation.  An agreement was achieved to pursue testing an alternative to destroying the dunes. Sababa, the Center for Sustainable Development in the Arava is very involved in this campaign.
• In addition to this meeting, I also met with Avner Fuchs, past president of Rotary Israel about how the institute could partner with Rotary Israel and Rotary International on Fundraising.  I also met with Avner Simon, the institute's architect to discuss the design of the new dorms.  Finally, no trip to Jerusalem would be complete without a quick shopping spree in Machaneh Yehuda.
• On Tuesday, thanks to our Arava Institute board member, Phillip Mendlinker, the Institute hosted directors from the Israeli Electric Company (IEC).  The institue arranged a tour of the region which included a visit to the proposed renewable energy industrial area, the Aora Solar Tower at Kibbutz Samar and a visit to the Arava Institute. Directors of the IEC who visited were, Moshe Bachar, David Almachias, Assad Joubran and Asher Dahan.  The visit was coordinated with the Eilat Eilot Renenwable Energy Initiative and the Arava Power Company.  Much of the discussion with the IEC was how the electricity that will be generated in the Arava will be sent back up north.
• On Sunday, July 11th, the staff reviewed the price proposals submitted by contractors for building the Research and Visitors Park.  The lowest bid came from Kibbutz Neot Smadar, one of Ketura's neighbors in the mountains behind Ketura.  The building should start by the last week in July.
• That same afternoon, the institute held the annual summer ice cream party for staff and staff families.  Judy Bar Lev and Ronit Friedman organized the event with ice cream from Kibbutz Yotvata. A very sweet afternoon!
• For some reason, everyone decided to come visit the institute on July 13th!  In the morning the Arava Institue and the Dead Sea Arava Science Center hosted ICA (Jewish Colonization Association) which is the Baron de Hirsch family foundation that has funded agriculture and development in Israel for over 100 years.  ICA has funded purchasing lab equipment for the renewable energy lab and we have a request for more equipment next year.
• Next, we hosted Richard Summers, Toronto Federation represenative,  who brought with him consultants who work with the Toronto Jewish Federation in resource development.
• Finally, Yael Shatiel, Executive Director of JNF Israel (KKL) along with 15 other KKL managers visited the insititute in order here about developments at the institute and updates on the new dorms.
• In the evening I attended the presenation of the regional master plan 2030, which lays out how the Arava Region (Hevel Eilot) will grow and develop in the next 20 years. As a local environmetnal organization, the Arava Institute and its public involvement arm, Sababa have been very involved in issues around regional planing.  In addtion to myself, Taal Goldman, Sababa Coordinator and 4 other members of the Sababa steering committee attended the meeting and were active in the discussion.  Sababa has established itself as an important environmental voice in the region.
• On Wednesday, July 14th, Shlomit Yardeni and Neal Levy, two partners at Ben Or Consulting spent the day at the institute initiating the in depth analysis of the institute as preparation for an Israeli resources development work plan that they have been contracted to provide the institute. Shlomit and Neal spent the day meeting staff and talking with each department to get a better understanding of the institute's strengths and weaknesses.  In addition to Neal and Shlomit, Shir Harel, the institute's webmaster also came down to participate in the meetings because we assume the website and new media will be an important part of our resource development strategy.
• On Thursday, Miriam Sharton and Tamar Norkin arranged a short seminar on renewable energy in the Hevel Eilot region for 15 MBA students from Maryland University.   The tour was led by Asher Epstein, Managing Director, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship,Robert H. Smith School of Business.  The students were intrigued by the amount of entrepreneurship in the field of renewable energy in the region.  The visit also helps strengthen the relationship between Maryland University and the Arava Institute which has had a student exchange program for many years.
• The same day I was in Tel Aviv, meeting with our colleagues from the Heschel Center and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the joint Sustainable Food Initiative of Heschel and the Arava Institue.  The ministry is very interested in joining the initiative and we discussed other parters from the agricultural, business and civil society sectors who we would like to invite to be part of a wider coalition that supports a social and economic shift towards a more sustainable food system in Israel.

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 June 13th - 18th

• The Dead Sea Arava Science Center (DSASC), which is a local R&D center funded by the Hevel Eilot Regional Council and the Israeli Ministry of Science and hosted by the Arava Institue, welcomed Dr. Ilan Stavi who began work on Sunday. Ilan was recruited to work on bio-fuels together with Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed in the framework of the Center for Reneawable Energy and Energy Conservation.  Ilan and his family will be living in the new faculty house on the Arava Institute campus.
• The Arava Institute Board of Directors met on Monday in order to approve the Institute's financial statements for 2009.  The meeting was timed to coincide with AIES Night (see next item) in order to enable Board members the opportunity to see student presenations.
• Monday afternoon and evening, the Institute held the end of semester AIES Night, when Masters students and Independent Study students make presentations about their research projects.  AIES Night Schedule Some students, made Power Point Presentations while others produced posters for the evening.  This semester's AIES Night included guest speakers from Jewish Hearts for Africa, Engineers Without Borders and Abraham's Path as well as an exceptional array of high quality presentations and posters on subjects as varied as Hydrogen Production via Boron Hydrolysis to Non Violent Struggle: A Means for Saving Our Environment.
• That same evening two students from the Institute spoke to the Secretariat of the Kibbutz in order to update the Kibbutz members on the current semester and to express their positive feelings about their experience living on Ketura.
• On Tuesday, Representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Regional Cooperation visited the Institute and brought with them Jochen Reiger, Director of the Middle East Office of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) http://www.gtz.de/en/ in order to discuss possible cooperation with the Institute and with the DSASC.  GTZ is especially interested in cross border cooperation with Jordan and renewable energy projects.
• On Thursday, Michael Ben Eli was invited to the Institute by the Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands (ACSDAL).  Michael is an architect by profession but a few years ago, founded the Sustainability Laboratories http://www.sustainabilitylabs.org/ whose mission is to act as a catalyst to transition the world's societies towards sustainability through the establishment of sustainable pilot communities. One of Sustainable Laboratories first projects is in Wadi Yatir among the Bedouin Community. The project is creating a sustainable desert farm owned and managed by a Bedouin agricultural cooperative. The project is supported by the JNF USA.  Michael came to the Institute in order to present the project and to discuss how the Institute could colaborate with the Sustainability Laboratories.  At the end of the visit, Michael, Kristina Donnely from ACSDAL, Abby Lutman from the Research Programs Department and I agreed on a list of potential areas of cooperation including help with the Wadi Yatir project as well as the Institute joing the Sustainabiltiy Laboratories international network of research stations.
• On the same day, the Institute was honored with a visit from the new Rector of Ben-Gurion University, Professor Zvi HaCohen and the outgoing Dean of the Eilat Campus Professor Shaul Krakover. This was an opportunty for the Professor HaCohen to get to know the Institute and for me to thank Shaul and Professor HaCohen's predecessor, Professor Jimmy Weinblatt for all they had done to enable the signing of the agreement with the University.  Dr. Elli Groner, Moishe Siel, Cathie Granit and I also discussed some of the technical problems we have run into in registering our students in their courses.  Professor HaCohen left me his card and said that I should call him any time if I need his help.

David Lehrer

Weekly Report June 6th - 11th, 2010

This was a relatively quite week at the Arava Institute.

•  On Sunday, Associate Director Miriam Sharton, Academic Director Dr. Elli Groner and I met with Dr. Arieh Nesher, Director of the Porter School for Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University and his staff. We have had contact with the Porter School in the past. The Porter School has become an important and influential institute within Tel Aviv University and is now offering graduate degrees. The meeting was initiated by Arieh, who wanted to update us on their plans and to discuss possible cooperation and a joint program. Though we are in some ways in rivals, it is clear that both institutes are more interested in cooperating that competing. We concluded that Elli would write up a proposal about how the two institutions could implement a joint program.
• That afternoon, Elad Topel outgoing Director of Eco-Paths, Tali Adini, the new Director of Eco-Paths and I met with Howie Rodenstein, the Israel Ride Chair and FAI Board member. The meeting was Tali's first opportunity to meet with Howie. Tali is transitioning with Elad this week learning the ropes of organizing the Ride. 
• The week was filled with lots of organizational meetings from Research Programs to the Academic Department. 
• We said good bye to intern, Cameron Davidson who was here working on her Masters Thesis from Brisbane University. We welcomed Lisa Blake from Cornell University who will be working on planning and policy issues with Elli Groner. 
• Wednesday afternoon, I was urgently called by Dorit Bannet, head of the Eilat Eilot Renewable Energy Initiative for an last minute meeting with Yossi Inbar, the Director-General of the Ministry for Environmental Protection who was visiting planned solar panel fields in the area. Yossi decided at the last minute to visit the Samar Sand Dunes as well. Dorit called me to quickly come to the dunes to meet Yossi and explain Sababa's position on saving the dunes from intended sand mining. We had sent the Ministry a letter asking that the planned mining be halted and that tests should be done in the areas already mined to see if it is possible to use land disturbed by previous mining rather than destroy 600 dunam of a pristine sand dune ecosystem. Yossi agreed to pay for part of the testing along with the Regional Council and the Ministry of Infrastructure.
• For the final PELS session this week, Michelle Shachar invited Rabbi David Rosen and his wife Sharon Rosen to visit the institute and speak to the students.  David and Sharon are one of our current students, Amirit Rosen's parents.  Both David and Sharon are very active in coexistence efforts in Israel and each spoke to the students about their work.  Rabbi Rosen is the head of the AJC's Department for Inter-religious Affairs and Sharon Rosen is the co-director of Search for Common Grounds in Israel http://www.sfcg.org/.
• Taal Goldman, Sababa Coordinator and I met with Sarit Cohen, the Sectretary of Beer Ora community near Eilat. Taal and I are meeting with the General Secretaries and eventually with members of all of the communities in the region in ordert to introduce Sababa to residents of the region and to present our postions on the different environmental issues we face. We discussed the Samar Sand Dunes, Timna Valley, the planned hotel in Timna Valley and the planned golf course at Beer Ora itself. 
• That afternoon, I spoke at the regional research meeting, a bi-monthly meeting of researchers in the area. I presented the Arava Institute's Research Department's activities. 
• Friday morning, I hosted Loyd and Alyson Fogler from Toronto Canada at the institute. The Foglers are active in philanthropy in the Jewish Community in Toronto and were very interested in hearing about the work of the institute and the regional renewable energy initiative.The productive visit was arranged by the Toronto Jewish Federation Partnership 2000 committee and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council.

 David

Weekly Report May 30th - June 4th

Weeks like this are the most difficult times for students and staff at the Arava Institute. The flotilla incident off the coast of Gaza, with the deaths of numerous foreign activists and the injuries and life threatening situation to Israeli soldiers generated anger and conflict among our students. At the same time, the mixed feelings of both staff and students towards the situation also created internal conflicts inside each one of us as we listened to the news and watched the television reports.
During times like this, I see my role as Director of the Arava Institute to keep the calm, to ensure that the students continue to feel comfortable on the kibbutz and to ensure that the kibbutz feels comfortable with the students. It is of course, not easy. At these times I do not see my role as explaining Israel's position to the students, giving a history lesson or using the opportunity to teach a message. I simply look for the right words to say to the students that will lower the flame under the pot and keep the pot from boiling over.
Before the week started, the Academic Department had been planning on sending the students on a two day trip to Jerusalem as part of the Peace Building and Environmental Leadership Seminar (PELS). The trip was scheduled for Thursday and Friday. On Monday morning when the events began to unfold on the news, the Academic Department Staff as well as other staff members, met to discuss whether or not it was right and safe to send the students to Jerusalem on the trip. The original program of the trip was to meet with politicians, journalists, human rights activists and alumni involved in an environmental project. After giving thought, the staff decided to go ahead with the trip but to make some adjustments to the program in order to avoid meetings in East Jerusalem. I also decided to join the students on the trip.
In the meanwhile, the student life staff, worked to create a safe space for the students to release their feelings in a way that would avoid hurting each other and would enable the program to continue to function. That evening, the student life staff helped the students organize an internal discussion that allowed them to exchange opinions and to get out their anger. It was a difficult discussion but the students used the many tools they had learned in PELS which enabled them to say difficult things to one another without things falling apart. Michelle Shachar, head of PELS and Student Life, and I made a strategic decision not to participate in the discussion but to give the students their space. Of course Program Associates were present, but the students ran the discussion themselves and it went on until the wee hours of the night. We understand that it was a very difficult discussion and that some students left still angry and conflicted.
Despite the difficulty, it seems that this session was enough to enable students to continue in the day to day campus life, going to class together, eating in the dinning room and preparing for the upcoming field trip to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Tuesday night, the night after the flotilla incident, I sat in front of the television, falling deeper and deeper into depression as I watched the Israeli and international coverage of the tragic events off the coast of Gaza. Suddenly I was reminded of a birthday party for Shira Kronich, one of our staff members, being held in the Keren Kolot lobby. My wife, Barbara and I were both happy to escape the televsion and walked over to the Keren Kolot guest houses.
We walked into the Keren Kolot lobby/coffee house as if we were entering a dream. About 30 students had organized a surprise party for Shira with cake, cookies, juice and so on. The students, Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and North Americans, were all sitting together around one long table, smiling, laughing, telling jokes. As soon as Shira walked in, they burst into singing Happy Birthday in three languages of course. They acted like a group of students anywhere's else in the world, happy to take a break from studies and just enjoy being together.
On Thursday afternoon, the studetns left for a day and a half field trip to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, they met with Tania Hary, Director of International Relations of Gisha, an Israeli NGO whose goal is to protect the freedom of movement of Palestinians through the Israeli legal system www.gisha.org. Gisha was the organiztion which helped the Arava Institute win its case to allow Palestinian students to study at the Arava Institute. The students met Tania in the outdoor park of old Jaffa. It was a beautiful night as Tania managed to overcome the surrounding noise to give the students a very vivid description of life in Gaza and some of the challenges faced by Gazan and West Bank Palestinans to travel. Obviously, many of our own students had no problem relating to these issues on a personal level. After the talk the students ate together in a great Middle Eastern restaurant - Abulafiah (I highly recommend it).
That eveing, the students went to spend the night at the Hava V'Adam Eco-Farm outside of Modiin. Two of our Arava alumni, Hayim Feldman and Dafna Dgani live and work on the farm.
The next morning, the students got a tour of the farm and some participated in one of the classes. After breakfast, the students packed up and we headed to Jerusalem for a few more meetings and lunch. Michelle, with the help of Miriam Sharton, the Associate Director of the Institute had organized a room in the Olive and Fish restaurant on Jabotinsky Street in Jerusalem (another restaurant I highly recommend). Before lunch, the students heard from two journalists, Amira Hass, who writes for the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz and Tom Weiss, who hosts an American radio program called "The Ambassadors Show". Amira and Tom (both Israelis) represent very different perspectives on the blockade of Gaza and so the discussion was, let's say, quite lively, at times. Students participated fully in the discussions, asking quesitons, arguing and engaging in an issue that even for the North American students, has by now, become very personal. After lunch, the field trip closed with a talk from the two Co-Director's of the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), Gershon Baskin and Hanna Senora. These two speakers were obviously in much more agreement than the previous speakers, though Hanna as a Palestinian was able to present the general mood of the Palestinian people, while Gershon concentrated on what he believes must happen in order for the proximity talks to succeed. Surprisingly, with all that is happening in the Middle East, both Hanna and Gershon are very optimistic that the end of the occupation and peace between Israelis and Palestinians under the two-state formula are within reach.
It was nice to finish the field trip and this week in general with a hopeful message.
As this tough week comes to a close, I am filled with awe at the continued courage and resiliance of our students. It is an unfortunate part of reality in this part of the world that as soon as conflict breaks out, the first thing that happens is the end of discourse. It is percieved as not honorable for enemies to speak to enemies and so often the secondary casualties of violence in the Middle East are the very coexistence activities between Palestinians and Jews that are designed to lead us out of the cycle of violence. The small revolution that is taking place at the Arava Institute is that the first thing that our students do in a time of conflict and crises is to meet and talk. The talks are difficult but that is how trust is built, by knowing you can say harsh things and still remain friends. The first reaction of our students, to meet and talk, during a time of crises may seem obvious and yet it is apparently not so obvious to the leaders in the region.

The political events overshadowed everything else that happened this week at the institue but I do want to mention some other important activities.

• The institute held its first "Grant Writing" Course for staff and people from the region. The course was organized by Sarit Maagen Rosenfeld, our Hebrew grant writer, and was taught by David Epstein, one of Israel's leading experts in the field. Over 20 people attended the two day course. Five staff members took part  while the rest were paying participants from the local area. The course was so successful that we plan to do a second course on "Fundraising" in the fall.
• The Arava Institute Research Programs staff held a department meeting reviewing the impressive achievements of the department. Dr. Clive Lipchin, head of the department began by laying out a clear vision of the departments strengths and concentrations. Iff in the past, the institute has been opportunistic in its pursuit of research funding, today the institute has 4 very clear areas of concentration, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, transboudary water management and ecosytems. The four areas of research are represented by the four research centers. In addition, the Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands (ACSDAL) which is a partnership between the Institute, the Science Center and the Agriculture R&D Center, though not part of the Research Programs Department, a critical mechanism for dispersing the information and knowledge developed in our research programs.
• The JNF organized a visit by a few trustees from the Reiger Foundation. The Reiger Foundation, located in Santa Barbara, California, works with the JNF to allocate scholarships to students studying sciences in Israeli universities. The trustees met with three of our students just before the students left for their field trip and after that we took the trustees on a tour of the institute.

Wishing you and the world a peaceful weekend.
David Lehrer

Weekly Report May 23rd -27th, 2010

• It was another interesting and packed week at the Arava Institute:
• On Sunday afternoon and evening, Michelle Shachar took the students up into the mountains behind Kibbutz Ketura for a PELS overnight under the stars. The students started by riding bikes from the Neot Smadar restaurant at Shizafon Junction, located about 12 kilometers west of Ketura junction (and a well known watering whole to Israel Ride alum). The students ended their ride at the Nahal Kisui sand dunes, where they hiked, frolicked, cooked dinner, sang and slept. The next morning , they hiked back down the mountain to Ketura.



• Sharón Benheim reports: also on Sunday, the Institute hosted the Quebec Labrador Foundation's (QLF) 2010 Land Conservation Fellowship program this past week. The QLF Middle East Program (see: http://www.qlf.org/internat_program/mideast_program.htm ) includes a Fellowship, during which North Americans visit and share innovations with partner organizations from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank and the Middle Eastern fellows visit the New England area. The goal is to foster citizen diplomacy and cross-border environmental collaboration as a bridge to greater understanding, dialogue, and cooperation. Staff member Gail Osman participated as a Middle Eastern Fellow in the first part of this 2010 program, visiting the American Fellow's and learning about their case studies and this week hosted the American group at the Institute to learn about the Samar Sand Dunes Campaign. Participants heard about the campaign from David Lehrer and visited the site with Yaniv Golan. Sharón Benheim, a former QLF fellow and staff member Abby Lutman also helped host the group and make their visit a memorable one.



• On Monday morning, Taal Goldman, Sababa Coordinator and I met with the Hevel Eilot Regional Council Chairman, Udi Gat, regarding ongoing local environmental issues such as the planned golf course at Ber Ora, the hotel that is planned to be built in Timna Park, the inscription of Timna Valley as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Samar Sand Dune campaign. We intend to meet with the Regional Council Chair once every two months in order to update him and discuss on going issues.



• That evening, the Sababa subcommittee on Timna Valley inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site met to discuss ongoing negotiations with the Park Timna Management Committee. After that meeting the full Sababa Steering Committee met in order to discuss all of the current issues that Sababa is working as discussed with the Regional Council Chair in the morning. The committee finalized Sababa's stand on the Timna Hotel which will be presented to the residents in the region in the near future. The Steering Committee also viewed a presentation prepared by Taal Goldman about the upcoming plans of the Airport Authority to build an international airport in between Timna Park and Ber Ora on the border with Jordan.



• On Wednesday, the institute was flooded with activity. First of all, the New Arava Center for Sustainable Development in Arid Lands (ACSDAL) hosted a delegation of 7 staff members of MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The delegation was headed by the Director of Policy Planning and External Relations, Mr. Ilan Fluss. The visitors had the opportunity to hear about the Arava Institue, the work of the new center, see Elaine's experimental orchard, visit the Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, see a demonstration of a water harvesting and purification system developed by the Arava Institute together with the Shamraz Company and participate in a meeting between students and an official government delegation from Ontario Canada (see next item). The MASHAV delegation was very impressed with their visit and at the final meeting at the end of the day agreed to work together with the institute to develop a long term partnership between MASHAV and the institute.



• On the same day, the Premier of Ontario, Canada, Dalton McGuinty, the Canadian Ambassador to Israel, Jon Allen and a group of Ontario business leaders and reporters visited the Arava Institute. The Premier met with students in the Kibbutz Community Center (which also serves as a classroom for the institute). Students, staff, regional council staff, members of the Jewish Agency staff and the Ontario delegation crowded into the classroom in order to hear four Arava Institute students, a Jordanian, a Palestinian, an Israeli and a Canadian, introduce themselves and tell a little bit about their background and about the institute. Aftwards, the Premier himself gave a very inspiring speach to the students recognizing the uniqueness of the institue and the importance of our message that only by working together can we achieve sustainabilty and peace for our planet. The Premer praised the work of the institue and the courage of the students. Udi Gat, the Hevel Eilot Regional Council Chair closed the session by thanking the Premier for visiting the institute and the region. After the meeting, the Premier was taken on a tour of the Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation by Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed.



• Parallel to these visits, 9 students from the Arava Institute organized and participated in an activity with 37 African refugees from Eilat at the Samar Sand Dunes. The students have been voluntarily working with African refugees in Eilat all semester. The students facilitated activities of finding animal tracks is the sand, yoga, games and Pita bread making. The kids played in the sand, came to know the dunes and left back home happy with great big smiles on their faces. The students were as pleased.

• On Thursday morning, a group of about 20 Allegheny College students accompanied by Professor Eri Pallant, Allegheny College faculty and Friends of the Arava Institute Board member, crossed from Jordan into Israel and after a quick stop at the Samar Sand Dunes, arrived at the Institute. The group of Allegheny students are participating in an eco-tour of Jordan, Israel and Palestine organized by the Arava Institute's Eco-Paths Department. While in Jordan, the students were hosted by Arava Institute's Jordnian alumni who made all of the arrangements for their tour. The focus of the program is on environmental issues especially issues around water and nature conservation. The students will spend the weekend at the institute and then head north. In the evening, the students were invited to participate in the a celebration of the graduation of 5 Arava Institute Masters students from Sde Boker. See the next item.



• On Thursday afternoon, a group of about 15 Arava Institute Masters students came down from Sde Boker where they are studying at the Albert Katz International School of Desert Studies of Ben-Gurion University. Five of the students who came down have completed their Masters and are graduating this semester. The Arava Institute wanted to honor the students and inaugurate an annual event to celebrate the succes of the Joint Masters Program. The 5 students are Adi Maimon, Eitan Amiel, Sulieman Halasawah, Ziv Sherver and Jennifer Golding. Mazen Zoabi, a 6th graduate could not come down to the institute for the event due to family commitments. The 5 students presented their research to the other Masters students and to the current students at the institute in the afternoon. In the evening all of the students, Masters students. staff, Allegheny students and friends and familes gathered at the pool for a celebration including food prepared by the Arava Institute staff, ceremonial cetificates and gifts, a slide show, musical entertainment and dancing. The Joint Masters program in Desert Studies, Environmental Studies Specialization was initiated in 2002. So far over 35 Arava Institute students have been accepted to program and over 15 have completed their studies and graduated. A number of those graduates are now on their way to their PhD. This was a very proud evening for the Arava Institute.

David Lehrer