Study Abroad Library

Sustainable Development and Environmental Justice

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.