Sources: FoEME blog: http://foeme.wordpress.com/2013/08/24/2013-gwn-regional-teachers-seminar-2/ EU Neighbourhood Info Centre More than 70 teachers from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have come together in Aqaba, Jordan, for the annual Good Water Neighbours Regional Teachers Seminar. The three-day seminar sought to coordinate and develop environmental communication and teaching methods, and provided an opportunity to exchange experiences and […]

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Location: Chania, Crete Dates: 23-25 July 2013 source: http://www.cyi.ac.cy/dareclimed-2013-conference.html The Conference aims to: I) bring together data owners, data users and stakeholders from the MENA region II) increase awareness on existing databases on climate, water and energy III) enhance collaboration and data exchange among Eastern Mediterranean countries IV) define a common basis for data formats […]

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source: EU Neighborhood Info Centre, 11-07-2013 More than 40 representatives of Ministries of Education, Ministries of Environment, regional and international organisations and NGOs from 14 Mediterranean countries met in the Croatian capital Zagreb on 17-18 June to work on the final draft of the Mediterranean Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The meeting, entitled […]

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by Avi Zimmerman, July 15, 2013 Germany’s well-intentioned waste disposal plan for the City of Ramallah has Palestinians, Bedouins and Settlers up in arms. The growing regional campaign to thwart the short-sighted and environmentally unsound project is driven by those who prefer the long-term sustainability of their shared living space over petty politics and quick […]

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By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, June 15, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/opinion/sunday/friedman-egypts-perilous-drift.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1& MARSA ALAM, Egypt — ON Tuesday, I visited a bakery in Cairo’s dirt-poor Imbaba neighborhood, where I watched a scrum of men, women and children jostling to get bread. You have to get there early, because the baker makes only so many subsidized pita loaves; he sells […]

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By: Hila Sagie, Avigail Morris, Yodan Rofè, Daniel E. Orenstein & Elli Groner Source: Journal of Arid Environments, Volume 97, October 2013, Pages 38–48 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196313000967 Abstract: This research explores local resident perspectives on ecosystem services (ES) in the hyper-arid Arava Valley/Wadi Araba, which spans across both Israel and Jordan. Identifying and characterizing ES, an increasingly […]

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Refutrees is a new, grass-roots organization working in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Lebanon to build sustainable, eco-friendly projects that respond to community needs. Muftah  caught up with the organization’s  project coodinator, Pauline Le Rolland, to learn more about the group’s work by Pauline Le Rolland Source: Muftah, Apr 17, 2013 Can […]

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contributing to the transfer and implementation of good practices to facilitate the take up of solar energy Source: ENPI CBCMED, Notwithstanding the shared political commitment and a common recognition of the huge solar potential of the Mediterranean region, some obstacles to solar energy deployment and diffusion still persist. With a view to achieving tangible results […]

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12-06-2013. Source: EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An EU-funded Twinning project, aiming to advance the establishment in Israel of a system of integrated environmental licensing for industry, was officially launched yesterday in Jaffa Port. A new Israeli law, to be based on the European Union directive on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) would streamline existing […]

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Recycling in Jerusalem: right or privilege? by Tanhum Yoreh & Ron Horne in: Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13549839.2013.788486#.UbzA–sUuwY DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2013.788486 Abstract: This study analyses disparities in the provision of environmental services in Jerusalem, specifically through the distribution of recycling bins. The allocation of recycling bins in Jerusalem is uneven. Some […]

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25-02-2013 More than a hundred experts from twenty Euro-Mediterranean countries, constituting the Joint Committee of National Experts for the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP), met from 13 to 21 February at the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean, to discuss the Draft of the Master Plan, which plans the deployment of an additional 20 GigaWatt […]

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28-02-2013 A study aimed to help battle pollution of the Mediterranean Sea has been launched by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Secretariat. The results and findings of the study will contribute to the comprehensive assessment of the current situation of depollution in the Mediterranean. The study, entitled “Update priority investment portfolio for protecting the […]

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By David Krantz, Green Zionist Alliance NEW YORK (Feb. 8, 2013) Source: http://www.greenzionism.org/greenisrael/antifracking/310 Moses took a wrong turn leading the Israelites out of Egypt, the old joke goes, and instead the Jewish people ended up in the rare spot in the Middle East without oil. As Arthur Herman noted recently in the New York Post, […]

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Fracking to upend oil game By ARTHUR HERMAN, January 27, 2013 New York Post Imagine a future meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, where the agenda is set not by Iran or Saudi Arabia, but by the United States. Oh, and the meeting takes place in Tel Aviv — because the other big […]

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Israel’s main metropolitan area is way behind in public transportation compared to European cities, and traffic is expected to worsen significantly in the coming years. By Zafrir Rinat, Jan. 24, 2013 Among the environmental crises to confront Israel in the coming years, the transportation crisis might be the worst. At a recent conference held by […]

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In this guest-article, Dr. Christopher S. Clarke of the Osprey Foundation describes the Foundation’s work in Palestine and Israel to address the most pressing environmental needs of communities impacted by growing inequality and access to resources, and how such an ecological approach might be a means of overcoming despair. Source: National Geographic News Watch: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/19/ecological-healing-in-the-holyland/ […]

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The UfM-labelled project “Jordanian National Railway Project as Part of a Regional Railway Network”, will allow for the integration of the Jordanian railway system with the regional network. Source: Union for the Mediterranean Easy and safe mobility of flow of goods and people on land and sea is essential for maintaining peaceful relations and enhancing […]

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Between Ruin and Restoration: An Environmental History of Israel Edited by Daniel E. Orenstein, Alon Tal, & Char Miller, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013 http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=36317 The environmental history of Israel is as intriguing and complex as the nation itself. Situated on a mere 8,630 square miles, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, varying […]

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Environmental Politics in Egypt: Activists, Experts, and the State (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics, 2012) http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415783002/ Based on extensive fieldwork from the late 1990s to 2011, the book shows how environmental experts and activists sought to influence state policies and corporate behavior.  The book analyzes donor-sponsored projects, popular campaigns, and public controversies to show […]

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