Arava Institute
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The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) is an academic studies and research institute located at Kibbutz
Ketura Keturah ( he, קְטוּרָה, ''Qəṭūrā'', possibly meaning "incense"; ar, قطورة) was a wife (1917 Jewish Publication Society of America translation). "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah...." and a concubine (191 ...
on the
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i side of the Arava Valley. Under the motto that "nature knows no borders", AIES seeks to train future leaders of the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
in environmental issues so that they will be able to cooperate in solving regional environmental problems. The Arava is a sparsely populated desert valley that connects the Dead Sea region with the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
, and is part of the
Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ''Bīrʿāt haYardēn'', ar, الغور Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr),, date=November 2022 also called the Syro-African Depression, is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, and Jordan. This g ...
. Between the Dead Sea and the cities of Eilat and
Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
, the Arava forms the border between Israel and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. Kibbutz Ketura, founded in 1973 by members of
Young Judaea Young Judaea is a peer-led Zionist youth movement that runs programs throughout the United States for Jewish youth in grades 2–12. In Hebrew, Young Judaea is called ''Yehuda Hatzair'' (יהודה הצעיר) or is sometimes referred to as ''Hasha ...
, is located only a few hundred meters from the border between Israel and Jordan. Kibbutz Ketura is one of a small number of
intentional communities An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
in Israel, and that makes it an ideal setting for a culturally diverse program. Members of the Kibbutz are both religious and non-religious Jews who have chosen to live together in the same community and maintain an egalitarian synagogue. The kibbutz is also a member of Israel's Green Kibbutzim movement, which seeks to promote environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. A portion of the kibbutz's agricultural produce is organic.


Students and academic programs

Students at the Arava Institute live on Kibbutz
Ketura Keturah ( he, קְטוּרָה, ''Qəṭūrā'', possibly meaning "incense"; ar, قطورة) was a wife (1917 Jewish Publication Society of America translation). "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah...." and a concubine (191 ...
while taking classes in sustainable development, water management, environmental law, economic policy, environmental science, and other topics in environmental studies. Classes are taught in English. Members of the faculty are often guest lecturers from universities, both in Israel and abroad, or professionals in fields such as public policy and water management. Students come from around the world to study and conduct research at the Arava Institute. Since its founding in 1996, the Arava Institute has hosted over 800 graduate and undergraduate students of various nationalities, including Israeli Jewish,
Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...
,
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
, Jordanian,
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
, Tunisian, Moroccan, European and American students. The Arava Institute has been able to maintain a diverse student body even during very difficult times elsewhere in Israel and the Middle East. AIES students can participate in semester and year-long programs accredited through Ben Gurion University as well as two master's degree graduate programs granted by
Ben-Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...
– one in Environmental Desert Studies and the other a "Green" MBA that teaches environmental sustainability and efficiency as well as business management skills. A three-week summer course is sometimes offered to study biodiversity and environmental challenges in the Arava Valley. The Arava Institute is considering establishing a joint Master's program with
Al-Quds University Al-Quds University ( ar, جامعة القدس) is a Palestinian university with campuses in Jerusalem, Abu Dis, al-Bireh, and Hebron. Overview The idea of establishing an institution of higher learning in the outskirts of Jerusalem was con ...
, the only Arab institution of higher learning in Jerusalem. All AIES students are required to completes a non-credit bearing Peace-Building and Environmental Leadership Seminar, which provides them with a facilitated forum for expressing their views on race, religion, identity, and the political situation. This is often considered as a successful
environmental peacebuilding Environmental peacebuilding (frequently also termed environmental peacemaking) examines and advocates environmental protection and cooperation as a factor in creating more peaceful relations. Peacebuilding is both the theory and practice of identif ...
practice and can make a small, yet important effect on everyday (or local)
peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
.


Alumni

Many of the Arava Institute graduates are working in the environmental or peacebuilding field. The institute has created an alumni network to continue supporting alumni by providing personal and professional contacts as well as seed money for alumni projects that demonstrate cross-cultural cooperation. Several alumni of the institute have gone on to work in cross-cultural projects. * Hashem Shahin, a Muslim Palestinian alumnus, is part of a joint Israeli-Palestinian project to discover the genetic basis of deafness. * Tamar Keinan, a Jewish Israeli alumna, joined a Jordanian alumnus to create the "Good Neighbors Water Project" for Friends of the Earth Middle East. * Laithi Gnaim, an Israeli Arab alumnus, established a nongovernmental organization called "Arrasid" (Bearing Witness) which trains Arab farmers in the
Beit Netofa Valley The Beit Netofa Valley ( he, בקעת בית נטופה) is a valley in the Lower Galilee region of Israel, midway between Tiberias and Haifa. Covering 46 km2, it is the largest valley in the mountainous part of the Galilee and one of the lar ...
in sustainable farming techniques. He has used connections made at the Arava Institute to offer training in sustainable practices and bui Arab-Jewish partnerships in the agricultural sector. * Maya Negev, a Jewish Israeli alumna, working at the Herzog Center for Policy in Tel Aviv University Others are working in NGOs working on solutions to hygiene and energy in rural and poor areas, working on
environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...
and awareness, activists in peace-related activities and more. The Arava Institute has recently added a new network to build more connections between alumni. The Arava Alumni Peace and Environmental Network (AAPEN) brings together alumni from all years of study during an annual conference held in varying locations in the Middle East, as well as an online presence on Facebook, a private online network (NING), updated pages on the Arava website for alumni, a newsletter, and more.


Research centers

In addition to its academic programs, the Arava Institute conducts cross-border studies in four research centers: * The Center for Hyper-Arid Socio-Ecology (CHASE), directed by Dr. Miri Lavi Neeman, is dedicated to the study of the natural ecosystems in the Arava valley and the interaction between those ecosystems and the region's people. The center brings together Jordanian and Israeli researchers to map the biodiversity of the region, in order to better protect natural resources while enabling sustainable human development in the region. Projects include monitoring of the 2014 Evrona Oil Spill. * The Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC), directed by Dr. Tareq abu Hamed, conducts research in a wide variety of subjects focusing on energy policy, solar fuels, photovoltaic technologies, biomass, wind and solar thermal energy, as well as innovative building construction techniques customized to conserve energy in desert climates. * The Center for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), directed by Dr. Elaine Solowey, is dedicated to the investigation and preservation of arid lands and their natural resources. Among the center's notable projects are the sprouting of a 2,000 year old date seed, nicknamed "
Methuselah Methuselah () ( he, מְתוּשֶׁלַח ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in pausa ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword"; gr, Μαθουσάλας ''Mathousalas'') was a biblical patriarch and a f ...
", and the revival of the frankincense tree in Israel 1,500 years after its last appearance in the region. * The Center for Transboundary Water Management (CTWM), directed by Dr. Clive Lipchin, provides a platform for water professionals and policy makers from Israel, Palestine and Jordan to cooperate in water conservation, desalination, wastewater treatment and education. Its project include the installation of
greywater treatment Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...
systems in Israel and the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, and research on sinkholes and desalination in the Dead Sea basin. In addition, the Arava Center for Sustainable Development (ACSD), under the supervision of Dr. Shmuel Brenner, aims to reduce poverty, enhance sustainability and empower communities by supporting locally driven, environmentally focused development programs worldwide. One of those programs is the agricultural development program "Furrows in the Desert" in Turkana, Kenya, which intends to create greater food security to the region by building local capacity in sustainable agriculture.


See also

*
Alon Tal Alon Tal ( he, אלון טל, born 12 July 1960) is a leading Israeli environmental politician, academic and activist. He was a member of the 24th Knesset between 2021 and 2022, representing the Blue and White political party; founder of the I ...


References


External links


Official siteArava on CNNLeichman, Abigail Klein. (2012, May 29). "The surprising source of Israel’s edible exports," ''Israel21c''
{{authority control Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Education in Israel Environmental research institutes Environmental studies institutions in Israel International educational organizations International research institutes Judaism and environmentalism Ketura, Israel Research institutes in Israel Study abroad programs