The Heschel Sustainability Center:An Overview

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Since its foundation 17 years ago, The Heschel Center has been Israel's leading advocate for a sustainability; a just society with a robust democratic economy and healthy environment.The Heschel Center engages in transformative learning, creates meaningful connections and the creative solutions necessary for a healthy world where people and the planet flourish with dignity. The Center focuses on educating individuals from all walks of life to the issues challenging Israeli’s environment by inspiring them to identify, create and implement solutions.Heschel ignites cadres of new motivated leaders who return to their communities and workplaces with skills to help promote ecological health, social justice and a thriving economy.Through developing and disseminating ideas and skills, the Heschel Center creates frameworks through which potential change makers can become sustainability leaders. Heschel touches society and effects change through its unique initiatives:

The Local Sustainability CenterThe (LSC) Center works directly with municipalities, regional councils- their leadership and professional staff in training programs tailor made for their community’s reality and needs. LSC has set up a network of 15 local centers in the geographic and social periphery of the country that are running programs to a wide range of underserved and disadvantaged populations. And a budding new initiative taking off: a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Network linking municipalities, business and civil society to further local sustainability.

Sustainability Center in Kiriat Gat

The Heschel Sustainability Fellows Program A year long program targets potential change makers in positions of influence - business, politics, media, free professions, social entrepreneurs from every strata of Israel society-Jews/Arabs, secular/religious, city/periphery – providing an in depth learning process along with tools to develop joint projects that have a real and lasting impact. The successful alumni network (over 250 graduates) implements our vision of promoting sustainability through a widening interlinked community whose work we catalyze and nurture in the workplace. Many go on to establish ground breaking initiatives in their fields.

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Sustainable Studies CenterIntensive short and long term courses designed for leaders, professionals and change makers from all over Israel. These courses are often geared to focus on professionals' needs, to garner the know-how and skills needed to increase their capacity to facilitate change towards sustainability in their respective fields.

SiachThe Heschel Center, in collaboration with Hazon, supports and cultivates a network of Jewish environmental and social justice activists in Europe, Israel and North America to promote mutual learning, professional relationships, collaborative projects and the sharing of best practices.

While there are any number of organizations in Israel devoted to advancing specific aspects of sustainability, only Heschel is holistically tackling the big picture and connecting a broad proactive agenda, integrating economic political and social change and training and partnering with key players in all of those realms.The Heschel Sustainability Center is a hub for creativity, hope and passion working to help realize a better Israel - now and for future generations.

Hazon Activist Gathering 2011

Nature activity in preschool

Education for SustainabilityA collaborative venture with the Green School Network has reached over 600 schools and kindergartens, empowering teachers and sensitizing youth through sustainability education to develop best practices to further an atmosphere of good citizenship and good education. The latest development of this collaboration is the Community Place Based Education (CPBE) links communities and schools in an integrated cross curricular program. The program aims to heighten an inclusive local identity developing local knowledge and skills of young people through hands - on projects that seek to improve physical and social parameters of life in their community.

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The Heschel Center:• Promotes vision, values, practical models and networks for a sustainable Israel in the 21st century.• Dedicated to building a sustainable future for Israeli society through education and empowerment. Our strategies include leadership development and educational courses offered to governmental and non-governmental organizations that foster activism, community awareness and social responsibility for all sectors of Israeli society.• Promotes creative solutions through transformative learning programs that address such challenges as poisoned air and water, climate disruption, clean transportation and the growing gaps within Israeli society.• Provides inspiration and ideas while building collaborative platforms to empower effective leadership for transition to a sustainable economy.

Heschel Center’s focus on sustainability bridges all communities and as a result creates many opportunities and pathways for a better life in a diverse and pluralistic Israeli society.

The Heschel Center for Sustainability is Israel’s leading advocate for a sustainable Israel; a just society with a robust democratic economy and healthy environment.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was one of the great moral leaders of this century for the Jewish people. He passionately combined scholarship and spiritual sensitivity with political engagement and social activism. His teachings of radical amazement and connection to the natural world, together with the importance of peace and universal justice are the inspiration and the foundation of the Heschel Center’s vision of a Sustainable just society in Israel.

The Heschel Center for Sustainability4 Ravnitzki St, Tel Aviv • Tel: +972-3-5608788 • Fax: +972-3-5605091

www.heschel.org.il