During the 2015-2016 academic year, the Mandel School for Educational Leadership (MSEL) is running a series of evening events on a range of contemporary social and educational issues. The series explores in-depth issues on Israel’s public agenda, and their educational, social, and economic implications. The series is being led by MSEL faculty member Dr. Yuval Evri and the subject matter has been chosen and developed by the fellows in accordance with their interests and expertise.
The second event in the series was devoted to International Women’s Day. The discussion was opened by Iman Khatib-Yssin, a cohort 23 fellow who is involved in the advancement of women in the Arab sector, and was moderated by Sharon Malki from MSEL cohort 23, who is engaged in the advancement of underprivileged populations. During the event ,the fellows shared personal texts they had written describing their connection to International Women’s Day. Afterwards, the fellows watched sections of the video installation “Pasatin” [“Windows”] by the artist Raida Adun. At the end of the session, there was a discussion with Iman Khatib-Yssin and Samah Salima Agbariya, director of the Noam organization combatting violence against Arab women and graduate of MSEL cohort 21.
The first event in the series explored the Paris Agreement, signed on December 12 at the UN Climate Change Conference, which aims to limit global warming to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius by 2050 and to less than 1.5 degrees by the end of the 21st century. Dr. Lia Ettinger, the academic coordinator of the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership and a tutor at MSEL, reviewed the state of the global environment and the central challenges in the field. During the second half of the evening, Dr. Orly Ronen, head of the Urban Innovation and Sustainability Laboratory at Tel Aviv University’s Porter School of Environmental and Social Studies, explored possible environmental solutions and looked at the role of individuals and civil society organizations in solving climate problems. As a continuation of the event, the fellows of cohort 24 visited community sustainability projects in Jerusalem. The tour was was led by Sigalit Rachman, a cohort 24 fellow who has worked for years in the field of sustainability, and by Dr. Lia Ettinger.
The third session in the series, to be held at the beginning of April, will address the proposed arrangements for exploiting Israel’s natural gas resources.
