Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Economy – A Window of Opportunity for Israel
By Aviva Shemesh, The Heschel Center for Sustainability Published in Ecology & Environment: Journal for Science and Environmental Policy of the ISEES (December 2019, issue no. 4, pp. 68-69) In 2016, Israel ratified the Paris Accords, which obligates it to determine national objectives for reducing emissions, to formulate a strategic action plan, and anchor its […]
The Alumni of the 19 Heschel Fellowship Cohort
Meet the Alumni of our 19 Heschel Fellowhip Cohort! Shlomi Ben Arush He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, a master’s degree in environmental engineering, both from Ben-Gurion University, and a master’s degree in business administration from the Technion. This provides him with technological, regulatory and business knowledge in the field of environmental infrastructure […]
Galilee Fellows Cohort 3 Changes Focus to Women Leadership
By Hanadi Higris and Rohan Plaot The idea of initiating a Jewish-Arab Galilean women’s leadership program was not designed on our desk, but was created on the ground. Over the past two years, the Beit Netofa Environmental Association and the Heschel Center for Sustainability have held the Galilee Fellows Program in order to promote leadership […]
Israel’s Report on Sustainable Development Goals in the UN
By Victor Weis Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, developed and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly by all its member states, is a comprehensive policy plan combining social, economic and environmental objectives and their interactions with an integrative and strategic perspective. As part of the High Level Political Forum meeting at the “Agenda 2030 […]
Heschel Fellows Program 18th Cohort Ends with Plans for Social Change
For almost the entire length of its eighteen year existence, the Heschel Sustainability Fellows program has met on Wednesdays. The last Wednesday of the Heschel Fellows year is always a bittersweet event. Sweet to look back on a year of learning, of accomplishments, of friendships formed; bitter, or at least melancholy, over that year being […]
The 3rd Conference on Sustainability and Community
On June 13th, we held our 3rd Annual Conference on Sustainability and Community, at the Clal Building in downtown Jerusalem, on the theme of “Local Resilience.” Some 300 participants enjoyed lectures, round tables and workshops. Over 40 organizations, local authorities and government ministries presented the cutting edge of knowledge and initiatives in sustainability and community, […]
Circular Economy Workshop Engages Israeli Industrial Leaders with Sustainability
By Victor Weis, CEO of the Heschel Center Mankind has improved its ability to produce goods. The problem is, that the way we make our products flows in one direction: we take a natural resource and turn it into a product, which after a short while ends its life as waste, polluting the ground, the […]
Israeli Population Growth: A Ticking Bomb – or an Incredible Opportunity?
Victor Weis, Former CEO of the Heschel Center for Sustainability Israelis, do you spend too much time in traffic jams? Do you think that’s it’s hard to buy an apartment in Israel? Are you worried about the Kinneret’s “red line,” the one that shows we’re running out of water? All these are symptoms, side-effects, of […]
On the Front Lines in the Protest Against Violence Against Women
Participants in this year’s Heschel Sustainability Fellowship (19th cohort), Lena Chiyadari and Anat Nir, tell of their involvement in the nationwide protest against violence against women that shook the country this past month: “On Tuesday, the 4th of December, at 5 p.m., we stood in the city square, a small group of women, with signs […]
Of Slavery, Idolatry and Freedom: Environmentally Inspired Thoughts on Themes of Pesach
Dr. Jeremy Benstein The most obvious connection between Pesach and environmental ideas is the agricultural/ seasonal one: it is Chag He’aviv, the festival of Spring, which symbolizes freedom and renewal, for us, as well as for the world around us. More politically, there are those who “midrashically” expand on the idea of the ten plagues […]
How We Tried to Develop Solutions for a Global Problem, With Insights From Sustainability – and Succeeded!
What does the Heschel Center have to do with germs!? Hearing the focus of our recent Hackathon, many people raised an eyebrow. But it turns out that antibiotics are a limited resource that suffers from the tragedy of the commons. The social and health implications of this “wicked problem” are due to become, in a […]
Innovative Combination of Art, Environment and Multicultural Coexistence
Our beloved alumna, Rania Akel, environmental artist, teacher, and community activist extraordinaire, has started an amazing new project. Located in the town of Kufr Kara, and called the “Swallow’s Nest Center,” it will be a center for arts, culture and the environment, that will that will host local and international artists and groups, and be […]