Peace-Building Leadership Seminar

Central to the Arava Institute’s program is its Peace-building Leadership Seminar (PLS) to develop students’ leadership skills and provide them with a facilitated forum for expressing their views on race, religion, culture, identity, and the current political situation. Over the course of the program, PLS’s students develop:

• Cultural understanding, respect, empathy and self-reflection
• A sense of empowerment, agency and initiative
• A sense of shared community, even during times of conflict
• Skills for effective and open dialogue, campaigning, and advocacy
• Informed perspectives on the politics of the Middle East and the environment
• A general understanding of coexistence initiatives and environmental campaigns

Beyond the PLS curriculum, the Institute provides students with an exceptional opportunity to learn about their classmates’ cultural backgrounds in a sensitive way that prepares them to be better communicators and leaders in the years to come. Students attend class, study, and eat together – as many as eight students live together in one dorm unit. The necessity of navigating challenges posed by cultural and religious differences in the dining room, the classroom, and the dorms are lessons in themselves. These experiences build cross-cultural understanding, confidence, and an important set of leadership skills that students apply to future academic and professional settings.

Research Studies

The Arava Institute is also home to five environmental research and development centers. Each center has its own trans-boundary environmental mission and applied-technology programs. Center researchers serve as the Arava Institute’s core faculty in the academic program.

• Jordan-Israel Center for Community, Environment and Research (JICCER) supports the well-being of the natural and human systems of the Arava Valley through cross-border community initiatives and research. The center aims to “reopen the bridges” between the southern Jordanian and Israeli communities through research, capacity building and policy engagement for regional, environmental and sustainable development. JICCER’s activities include cross-border projects in the fields of ecotourism, environmental education, women’s cooperatives and empowerment, agriculture and land-use management, and community-based environmental systems and technologies.
• The Center for Trans-boundary Water Management (CTWM), provides a platform for regional water professionals and policy makers to cooperate in water conservation, desalination, wastewater treatment, and public education activities.
• The Center for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA), is dedicated to the investigation and preservation of arid lands and their natural resources. Working collaboratively with arid land research institutes in Israel and around the world, the Center is a vital player in the field of desert agriculture and sustainable agriculture.
• The Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC), leads the renewable energy research and development initiatives in the southern Arava region. Leveraging the natural desert environment and some of the highest solar radiation levels in the world, CREEC established the Arava Institute Research and Visitors Park to oversee innovative research, commercial solar validation, and biogas projects.
• The Center for Hyper-Aird Socio-Ecology (CHASE), focuses on the natural ecosystem in the Arava valley and the interaction between those ecosystems and the local people.

The Friends of the Arava Institute is a US registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Its mission is to support the critical environmental and peace-building work of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies through fundraising campaigns, student recruitment, alumni relations, and public education events. Donations to the Arava Institute through the Friends of the Arava Institute are tax deductible.

As a partner to the Israel Ride, the Friends of the Arava Institute functions as the charity of record and processes all donations for the Israel Ride, ensuring appropriate and accurate rider and donor support and recognition. The Friends of the Arava Institute is also the lead partner on supporting rider fundraising efforts, overseeing marketing and communications calendars, and engaging the Israel Ride alumni community.

The Friends of the Arava Institute is supported by a national board of 48 trustees,  many of whom were first introduced to the Arava Institute through their Israel Ride experience. A professional staff team, headquartered in Boston, is dedicated to manifesting the values of the Arava Institute in the United States and around the world. Today, the Friends of the Arava Institute is the largest funder to the Arava Institute in Israel, raising over 2/3 of its annual budget.