Sustainable Development and Environmental Justice

  Israel

Beer Sheva

Term: Academic Year, Fall, Spring 
Dates: September 08-May 09

Description: The Concept

Five decades ago David Ben Gurion claimed that "The Negev will be the test of the creative ability and pioneering valor of Israel ." The Negev constitutes over half of the area of the State of Israel, yet to date it is home to less than ten percent of Israel's population. Despite attempts to set this arid region at the top of the state's priority list, it remains peripheral and remote in the Israeli mindset. This program will focus on environmental support of the Negev and its sustainable development as well as that of regions that are similarly peripheral and psychologically remote.

It is a unique track of study in which students interested in both environmental studies and Jewish studies may pursue these fields and explore various points of their intersection. The program takes a holistic environmental perspective of the Negev desert, considering ecological, economic, social, demographic and political issues of the region. In addition to ulpan and academic courses, students will participate in workshops, discussion groups and environmental fieldwork. The environmental studies and activities will be in collaboration with the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Keturah and the Atid Bamidbar creative Jewish studies center, in Yeroham, located twenty miles south of Beer Sheva. The program is appropriate for a year of study abroad during undergraduate studies.

Highlights:
The Program
The first semester is focused on the Northern Negev. Students will divide their time between the main BGU campus in Beer Sheva and the Northern Negev town of Yeroham. They will live in Yeroham, where they will experience life in a development town and participate in workshops and discussion groups at the Atid Bamidbar (future in the desert) study center. Students will take Hebrew language and three courses at the BGU campus three days a week.

The second semester will focus on the Southern Negev . Students will reside on Kibbutz Ketura and take courses at the Arava Institute. Students will be accommodated in student dormitories located on the Arava Institute campus on Ketura. Student housing consists of four units that sleep two people, with a common living and eating area. All rooms are equipped with Internet access. The Institute offers a fully equipped computer lab, classrooms and a library. Students will be able to experience kibbutz life. Interaction of students and kibbutz members is actively encouraged by the Arava Institute by, for example, offering kibbutz families to host students during their time on Ketura.

This program offers a unique "hands-on" Israeli experience by offering a meaningful social encounter in an academic framework. Students will meet the social and environmental challenges of Ben Gurion's call for Israel to address the Negev in the 21 st century. They will receive the tools, training and experience to effectively take on one of Israel 's greatest challenge: that of developing the Negev into a socially, economically, and environmentally vibrant part of the state and people of Israel .

Atid Bamidbar is a unique community oriented study center where a diverse representation of the population of the Negev - women and men, religious and secular, new immigrants and veteran Israelis, residents of development towns and kibbutz members - meet and study Jewish sources, from Bible to contemporary works, in an open, egalitarian, and pluralistic atmosphere, striving to apply these sources to the complex social realities of the 21st century.

Atid Bamidbar

The Arava Institute (AIES) is a regional center for environmental leadership.

By encouraging environmental cooperation between peoples, the Arava Institute is working towards peace and sustainable development on a regional and global scale. The Institute is situated on Kibbutz Ketura in Israel 's Southern Arava Valley - a desert in the Syrio-African rift near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. The Institute is home to academic programs, research and public involvement.

The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES)

The Courses:
   
First Semester:

* Hebrew language
* Jewish Environmentalism: Selected Environmental Challenges in the Modern Jewish State - An Introduction - Syllabus
* Environmental and Natural Resources Policy in Israel and the Middle East
* Environmentalism and Judaism: Knowledge to Activism Course in Yeroham

Second Semester:

* Jewish Perspectives on Nature and the Environment
* Water Management in the Middle East - an interdisciplinary approach - Details
* Peace Building and Environmental Leadership Seminar (PELS) - Experimental and Theoretical Approaches
* Independent research

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Minimum Education: High School

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Israel Independently or in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups

Scholarships are Available. Scholarships are available according to Merit and FInancial need for the program provider. Details can be found on website

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Resume
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Ben-Gurion University's Mission Statement: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was named after Israel's first prime minister and one of the giants of modern Jewish history - David Ben-Gurion. It is the embodiment of his dream to make the desert bloom. The University was established in 1969 by the Government of Israel to spearhead the development of Israel's southern region and is the only Israeli university created with a unique nation-building mandate: to develop the Negev. BGU has fulfilled and surpassed this objective and the Negev region is witnessing advancements in various fields - agriculture, education, industry and technology. The Center for International Student Programs invites you to come and understand Israeli society from within - to go beyond the tourist realm and immerse yourself in the region for a semester, year, winter or summer. If you are adventurous explorer, ready to become integrated into the exciting, culturally and historically rich world of the Middle East, this is the program for you...

Year Founded: 1986