Ben Gurion University of the Negev, one of Israel’s finest academic institutions, and one in which its environmental and alternative energy projects have received world-wide acclaim, honored six outstanding individuals with Honorary Doctoral degrees at the University’s 39th Annual Board of Governors Meeting at the Campus on May 25th. One of these individuals, Dani Karavan, […]
Rising up, like a mirage in the middle of the desert outside Eilat, is a giant yellow tulip in whose heart lies a massive crystal. Surrounding it: a field of mirrors that slowly move back and forth, following the sun. Hallucinatory though it may sound, this is no mirage. The tulip is actually a solar […]
While in the center of the country, the concern is to improve food quality, public transportation and vehicle efficiency, in the periphery Israel’s decision-makers worry about building a satisfying enough environment to attract and keep young people who otherwise flee to Tel Aviv. This reality was clear at a conference this morning on industry in […]
For those of you familiar with the typical American college student spring break, you know that it generally entails transporting an Animal House environment to exotic locations such as Cancun, Fort Lauderdale, the Bahamas, or the Carribean. However there has been a movement in recent years to offer students an alternative to these stereotypical spring […]
Israeli Researcher Finds Earth Cracks May Contribute to Global Warming “Fractures breathe, and this process has direct relevance to the question of global warming,” says Dr. Noam Weisbrod –– With the ever increasing shortage in the world’s water resources and dire warning of Israel’s own ongoing drought, research to reduce contamination of existing water resources while […]
With everything going on over the past month, many of our thoughts have been turned towards the southern area of Israel and the Negev. At more than 60% of the country’s land mass, however, the Negev desert should really be part of the Israeli consciousness more often. Community based NGO Shvuat ha-Adamah/Earth’s Promise, based in […]
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 […]
As a Green Prophet studying at Ben Gurion University, for the last two weeks I have been out of school due to rockets on Beer Sheva. Earlier this week I took advantage of BGU’s location in the desert to hike away from the sirens and remember the beauty of being outside in the undeveloped areas […]
With so much negativity in the southern part of the country and the Negev right now, it is refreshing to learn about positive things going on in the region, such as the blossoming eco-village Kramim. Founded recently by a group of visionary young Israelis and immigrant families, Kramim hopes to serve as a multicultural model […]
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.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSr6oLw-X4U[/youtube] Ilana Meallem of Arava Institute has helped initiate a project to install a bio-gas facility in the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, to provide the villages with electricity and to help them dispose of waste in an environmentally friendly manner. A donation party will be taking place on Friday December 19th at 10:00pm […]
Fair Trade and preserving local craftsmanship and culture, is an important aspect of the green movement –– at least for those environmentalists who value humankind and the health of its societies. Following that notion, we think it’s appropriate to feature the women from Lakia: as their agrarian society shifts to a western one, Bedouin are getting […]
Convening at the Ben Gurion University’s Sede Boqer campus on December 14-17, over 350 people from 40 countries are expected to meet and map out ways to combat desertification around the world. The four-day gathering is the largest international conference ever held in Israel focused on an environmental topic, and probably the largest international academic […]
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) announced yesterday that they would boycott the 60th anniversary gala evening held by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The reason? The Ministry supports the building of a new settlement, Mirsham, in the Lachish region. The SPNI and other environmentalists have strongly objected to the project, […]