Active Education for the Environment

In elementary school years, Givat Haviva engages 6th grade children from neighboring Arab and Jewish communities in an active educational project that promotes a culture of sustainability and shared community through experience. The Active Education for the Environment project focuses on a specific physical area on the border of the two communities or shared by them (i.e., stream, park, field, forest, etc.). These spaces are often a source of tension, due to pollution and neglect, contributing to conflict and negative perceptions among citizens.

The program facilitates environmental awareness among young citizens in both communities in order to transform these areas into sites for cooperation and shared community building. Sixth grade children and educators from schools in each community participate in educational sessions and actions in order to learn about sustainability and shared citizenship. They are challenged to create usable art craft with recyclable materials found at the site which will is placed in the site surroundings to be utilized as an educational tool for the wider community.

Each participating class takes part in four lessons on the topics of sustainability and shared society on its own in order to prepare for four joint lessons with a parallel class from the other group. In the combined lessons, the two classes engage in discussion and work on sustainable art projects, both with bilingual facilitation so as to enable full participation of all the children.