On March 6, 250 representatives from local municipalities, social entrepreneurs, community leaders, business executives, and academics participated in the Heschel Center’s National Conference for Sustainability and Community. The event was held in the David Yalin College in Jerusalem in partnership with the Jerusalem Municipality, as well as other partners. The conference dealt with the interface between municipalities and communities, and shared examples and success stories as well as challenges facing the promotion of urban sustainability.
Our keynote speaker was Amsterdam-based Harmen van Sprang, co-founder of shareNL, a private company which works with municipalities to promote the creation of a sharing economy at the community level. He brought inspirational examples of how the sharing economy has functioned in Europe. Other topics of discussions included ideas for participatory governance and increased public participation, how to promote values of democracy in the urban sphere, and productive ways for multi-sector collaborations.
Additional sponsors and partners were the Ministry of Housing, the Local Authority of the Dead Sea, the Urban Clinic, Aroma Israel, and the Jewish National Fund.