Don't Miss It!

Building the Godjo

You are all welcome to join our next work-days, no experience needed! 

Sunday 9/9 16:00

Wednesday 22/9 16:00

Thursday 23/9 9:00

Thursday 30/9 16:00

For more details contact:
Timna: 052-6433448 

Roof Pioneers’ Conference - August 24-26, 2021

In a country where open space is becoming an increasingly precious commodity, and buildings and infrastructure consistently invade our public domain, it was refreshing to attend an innovative conference produced by Muslala, which opened up the potential for roofs as a fifth dimension of the public domain, to be used for leisure, food-growing, bee-keeping, solar energy, and many other ideas. Some roofs in Jerusalem have already been put to use, but thousands more flat roofs are waiting to be redeemed.

(picture of Muslala Roof on the Clal Building)

Bustania 

We worked with the community on the development of the garden, strengthened cooperation with the authorities, and had a toilet facility installed for the use of garden activists and visitors.

A two-week summer camp was held for the children of the Halom community, a group of young families who take an active part in the development and maintenance of the garden.

Most Sundays and Wednesdays we continued to have work days on the study space. During the summer most of the work is done by families with young children. This was fun, but the work progressed more slowly than planned.

We also held a compost workshop for activists with Mahapach Yarok, held a musical performance for the children and a women's evening in honor of Rosh Chodesh.

We laid the foundations of the learning space together with the families!

We will continue to develop the space together with the community on intensive working days with professional support twice a week.

WIth the start of the school year and a return to routine, we hope the parents of the kindergarten children, the local youth and the Jerusalem preparatory school will come back to work in the garden.

Park Bustania 

This month, the plans for phase A of the park's development are being finalized..

Thanks to collaboration with the professional team of the Yuvalam Community Center, we continue to meet with the planners.

Thanks to public pressure from the community, the park planners and the Mayor decided to remove the road that would have destroyed the Theatre Garden!

Food Cycle 

Every week there is a stand in the courtyard of the Taylor House. Over time a small nucleus of activists from the community has formed, who take responsibility for various roles within this project.

We received a budget from the Shahaf Foundation for a project coordinator who will work on branding, promoting and implementing our work plan.

The new coordinator will start work immediately after Rosh Hashanah.

Yuvalim Sustainability Forum

This month the Yuvalim Sustainability Forum was established.The forum team met for the first time at the Taylor Community Center and includes active residents, leaders of community and environmental initiatives, representatives of the urban, community and education departments, as well asand also a board member.

The forum will work as a roundtable, a platform for collaboration in promoting sustainability, sustainable development and education among the various communities of Yuvalim. It will convene monthly.

Jason Ludwig

Jason Ludwig, born and raised in New York City, developed a strong passion for environmental stewardship at the University of Maryland where he received a BA in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics. Having grown up in a concrete jungle, Jason never saw composting in action and therefore never knew that banana peels and all organic materials could be turned into rich fertilizer. Getting acquainted with composting and learning about all the ways in which countless companies and community-based organizations around the world were turning “waste” products into valuable items taught him that doing good for the environment and making a profit can be one and the same. 

Now a college graduate, Jason is seeking ways to get involved with the boatload of solutions that exist out there to end our society’s wasteful habits. Jason has been in Jerusalem since June 2021 and has been interning for GreenQ- a technology company helping waste collectors and municipalities across Israel optimize their collection process, volunteering with the JLM Food Rescuers, and taking classes at Ohr Sameyah.

He is excited to continue exploring Israel, learn about Israeli culture, and use his four month internship at the Jerusalem Green Fund to make a positive impact on people and the environment in Jerusalem.

Phil Saunders

Phil Saunders can’t remember where or when he met Naomi Tsur, but as a result of that meeting he decided to join the JGF as a stakeholder. His participation in the JGF is also part of his larger personal vision of building cooperation and relationships between Jews and Arabs.

Saunders, who moved to Israel in 2005 from London, England and who now lives in Tsur Hadassah, is the co-founder of “Path of Hope and Peace” a non-profit community based organisation. It focuses on building economic and environmental relationships between Tsur Hadassah and the neighboring Arab town Hussan.

Together with his Arab counterpart Ziad Sabateen, Saunders has worked tirelessly to build trust and economic cooperation between the local towns of Beitar Illit, Tsur Hadassah and Hussan. Building these relationships has been years in the making and the results are felt by all in the area. Jews and Arabs today live and work side-by-side, with economic co-existence between all three towns. Each group of people feel safe and comfortable moving between the three towns, driving in the area, and shopping in each other’s local stores.

Even the Corona pandemic and recent war in Israel, which highlighted tension between Jews and Arabs, have not been able to destroy the relationships that have been created. In fact the pandemic has led to another avenue of cooperation - that of discovering the unique local natural environment, making it accessible to all and protecting it.

The newly discovered nature trails, water springs, and ancient agricultural terraces became a local source of pride during the pandemic, when locals and travellers frequented these sights when everything else was closed. “Path of Peace and Hope” now hopes to develop these unique nature sites and address other environmental issues as another way to strengthen cooperation among the locals.

Saunders and Sabateen were recently awarded an International Peace prize for their work.