Harnessing Professional Expertise and Localized Knowledge for Collaborative Climate Resilience in Shefa-‘Amr
Leader : The Galilee Society
Partners: University of Haifa, Shefa Amr Municipality
Duration of the Project : 42 months
Location of the Project : Shefa Amr
Project’s description:
Climate change is already here! Sometimes in a whisper, and other times in a cry, reality signals to humanity that immediate action is needed. Along with mitigation measures that may slow down the crisis, there is a need to prepare for these inevitable changes.
Due to its geographic location and climate, Israel is particularly susceptible to climate change, which is expected to increase the rate and severity of extreme climate events and generate additional economic, environmental, health and social costs. While adapting to this reality will be challenging for all of Israel, it will be particularly challenging for the Palestinian Arab community. Arab localities suffer from severe development gaps which render them especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, particularly in public health.
The overarching goal: to develop climate resilience in the Arab localities in Israel.
Goals:
– Empowering the civil society in the city of Shefa Amr in climate activity.
– Empowering the Shefa Amr Municipality in climate activity.
– Developing a 10-year action plan to enhance the climate resilience of the city of Shefa Amr in cooperation with the community.
– Copying the model to the Arab localities at the national level.
– Gender responsive planning in the development of climate resilience.
Main Activities:
- – Empowering and mobilizing local community stakeholders (residents, CBOs, and businesses) for participation in climate actions and decision-making processes.
- – Building human and institutional capacities of the Shefa-Amr local authority in a way that mainstreams inclusive, climate resilient planning, policy-making, and management.
- – Building an integrated, inclusive multi-stakeholder action plan to enhance the climate resilience of Shefa-Amr.
- – Advocacy to promote the adoption of strategies to build climate resilience at the national level.
- – To mainstream gender-responsive planning and policy-making and promote women’s engagement in climate action(cross-cutting).
The University of Haifa, a partner in the project, will be responsible for conducting a ‘Participatory Vulnerability Assessment’, the first of its kind to be held in Israel, which will assess the vulnerability in Shefa Amr, both physically and socially. In the hope that the model will succeed, it will be documented in a written guide that will be distributed to Arab localities. Moreover, the model will be distributed in various channels.
