שתיל - שירותי תמיכה וייעוץ לקידום שינוי חברתי

Last week, six SHATIL-Porter Environmental Fellows presented the results of year-long projects conducted during their internships in major environmental organizations in a day that clearly showed the societal impact possible when civil society and academia join hands to promote social and environmental change.

Among the projects: an agricultural community garden for Ethiopian immigrants; an incentive to industry to lessen its pollution of the Mediterranean Sea; critical scientific research on which the government can base its environmental demands of industrial polluters and a mechanism for ensuring Israeli cities appoint environmental committees.

Everyone present agreed that it was a heartwarming morning of positive impact on individuals' lives, on environmental organizations and on Israeli society.

The Porter Environmental Internship program was established in order to train the next generation of young leaders who will advocate for the environment, public health, sustainable development policies, environmental and social justice. The program’s participants – masters students at the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University --  are given the opportunity to witness from inside the operation of environmental organizations, to obtain professional experience, implement their expertise in the environmental field, and to contribute to the struggle for change in environmental attitudes and policies. During he academic year, the students dedicated 10 hours a week of work in organizations, and participated in four enrichment meetings – two with SHATIL Everett Social Justice Fellows. 

Tamar Neugarten, whose masters thesis is on the "Spatial, Social and Perceptual Status of Community Gardens in Tel Aviv," worked on an agricultural community garden in Bat Yam for Ethiopian immigrants during her internship at the Tel Aviv-Jaffa branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. The garden is an initiative of the Bat Yam municipality in collaboration with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Ministry of the Environment, the Toronto Federation and the local Ethiopian community. Twenty four Ethiopian immigrant men from rural backgrounds planned and work in the garden, growing vegetables used in traditional Ethiopian dishes. Among the benefits are a reclaimed sense of self worth through the use of their rich experience and expertise to benefit themselves and their community. Project participants will hold workshops for children, students and Bat Yam residents, adding to a view of Ethiopian immigrants as capable citizens with knowledge to contribute. Neugarten's role was to enhance the project's environmental impact with composting, water conservation, etc., as well as to help with community outreach. 

  The moving closing session, attended by Dame Shirley Porter, was followed by a meeting of the project's steering committee, which plans to expand the number of interns next year based on the first year's resounding success. The Porter Environmental Fellowships are a project of the Porter School of Environmental Studies, SHATIL, NIF UK and the Porter Foundation.