Whether or not you already know the Bread and Puppet Theater, “Rehearsing with Gods” is a wonderful way to learn more – to see, feel, and almost taste some of the magic of the seminal puppet theater founded in 1962 by German Peter Schumann. Simon and Estrin have both been a part of the B […]
Twenty years, ago, Sally Bingham went to her local bishop and announced that she wanted to be ordained so that she could become the world’s first priest for the environment. She was received with some skepticism. Undeterred, she embarked on almost a decade of study and became an Episcopalian minister in 1998. She went on […]
Michael Crichton’s “State of Fear” is a thriller, telling the story of eco-terrorists artificially creating extreme weather events in order to convince the world of the non-existent threat known to the rest of us as “anthropogenic (human caused) climate change”. The hero of the story, an MIT professor and special agent by the name of […]
A review on the cover of this book by Fred Pearce describes it as “a world tour of hydrological madness” (Sunday Times), and that, in a nutshell, is exactly what it is. For those who want to understand what happens to the world’s water supply and where it comes from, whether you live in or […]
Providing self-sufficient and affordable shelter remains a major challenge for humanity worldwide. Decent and healthy living conditions are still required in many parts of the world especially due to migration to over-populated urban areas, man-made and natural disasters. Many architects and non-government organizations have attempted to provide local communities in these areas with building skills […]
If you’ve heard about the demise of the kibbutz movement, then you may also know that financially strapped communal farms have recently climbed out of debt by building suburban-style detached housing developments and selling them to upwardly mobile Israelis. Suburbanizing kibbutzim and moshavim (village settlements), along with several new suburban-style towns like Shoham (near Ben […]
Reading has its own geography. I read this book The Nature of the State while I traveled back and forth from the West Highlands of Scotland to London for work . . . while Israeli-Palestinian relations erupted into open conflict in Gaza, while fire in Greece turned to fire Australia, while it snowed hard in […]
“The more we leave the non-human world behind, the less human we become: and the more fearful we become. It is not the thrilling fear of the kind I have experienced with horses, it is more a soul-deep, dislocated sense of anxiety. We lose our sense of trust in the wild world: we begin to […]
Carbon emissions from the building environment are globally one of the major contributors to climate change. On average up to 50% of all carbon emissions are related to domestic use of energy – our household consumption. How then will our personal conduct have any influence on the global climate? The answer to that is it […]
‘The Age of Stupid’ is an ambitious new Independent British green documentary. As a fellow filmmaker and activist, I salute director Franny Armstrong and her dynamic team for the passion and vision shown in creating this film, pulling together funding from diverse and various sources, creating the ‘Not Stupid’ brand and the big campaign that […]
I am really not the right person to be reviewing “Nature’s Due” by Professor Brian Goodwin from Shumacher College in the UK. It is based on some quite complicated biology, a subject that I haven’t studied formally since I was 14. James sent me the book in September, and I’ve only just finished it now, […]
We’re pleased here on Green Prophet to be starting another run of reviews of green & environment-themed books and films, from a range of reviewers. Every Wednesday we’ll be posting reviews, ranging from academic to practical, from the obscure and epic, to the bang up to the minute, recently released, ‘in your face’ diatribe. So […]
Those clever clever folk over at the British Council Israel are this week hosting a live video conference with British energy expert Francis McGowan and an audience in Turkey, all from the Council offices in Ramat Gan. Francis McGowan, senior lecturer in politics from the University of Sussex, is a member of the Sussex energy […]
“The Old Testament tells the story of a seriously miffed God flooding the world, and Noah building a wooden monohull to save each species. This time around it won’t be an act of God but a pickle of our own making, and the planet is the only ark we have. It’s time to find that […]
Green Design – From Theory to Practice (see preview post here), a major international architectural seminar took place this week here in Jerusalem, bringing together leading experts from the worlds of architecture, design, and integrated studies. Despite the recent war in the south, all but one of the international practitioners came, and by doing so, […]
Our resourceful friends at the Bedouin NGO Bustan are refusing to allow the current tension in the South of Israel affect them. Despite having to cancel some tree planting dates due to the war and the related school closures, they have upped sticks to Tel Aviv and are organising a benefit evening this coming wednesday […]
Special guest desert dwelling activist and academic Lucy Michaels, gets to the heart of the matter with a classic eco text: “The burnt cliffs and lonely skies … all that which lies beyond the end of roads:” From Desert Solitaire and why Israel’s deserts need their own Edward Abbey. In the late 1950’s, a young […]
During these tough times in the south of Israel and Gaza, it’s heartening to discover that some events are continuing, and that the determination to green things up, either by accident or design, continues apace. Here at Green Prophet, we’ve kept a keen eye on green design and sustainable architecture, both here and abroad. I […]
The Christmas season in Europe is often silly season for the world’s media outlets, when they outdo each other to find the strangest, weirdest and oddball news story to give people an extra sparkle to their celebrations. Strange shaped vegetables, or bagels that bleed are the sort of stories that crop up. Despite the crisis […]
Events and frenetic discussion, both academic and activist in nature, have continued apace here at the 2nd Drylands and Desertification Conference here in Sde Boker, and I’ve taken an afternoon off to process the previous days proceedings. (You can see yesterday’s recap of the conference here.) The theme of day 2 was titled ‘the role […]
Israel’s pioneering Desert University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), is currently hosting the 2nd biannual ‘Drylands, Deserts and Desertification‘ conference at their deep desert outpost at the Sde Boker Campus. Day 1 has focussed upon Life and Soil Degredation in the Drylands, and has seen a wide range of experts presenting fieldwork and research […]
Vandana Shiva isn’t a writer to pull punches. By the twelfth page of 'Stolen Harvest' (2000), she announces a damning verdict on Western food production:
“My story gathering has led me all over the world. Each journey took me to a perfect example of one facet of the problem or one hint of a solution. I was near the end before I realised that I had looked for my answers on several of the world’s most forgotten islands, self-contained places […]
A little out of place, a yurt in the Israeli desert offers a neat eco-treat. Feeling jaded from all the holidays in this country, we decided to retreat to the desert for Shabbat (the Jewish day of rest). And this was no ordinary retreat: arriving into Moshav Dekel, in the Eshkol region of the Negev […]
Today’s book review, part of our ‘eco books review festival’, is by guest writer Gil Peled: Jerusalem-based Israeli eco-architect Gil (who trained in architecture in the wilds of deepest Scotland…), has been involved in planning and designing on the green scene in Israel for many years. His ongoing project is coordinating a Jerusalem apartment building […]