Background:
Climate change, water scarcity, and geopolitical insecurity are issues that greatly affect the future of today’s youth in the region.
The aim of the GWN project, with the full name of Good Water Neighbour, is to carry out activities that will respond to climate mitigation and adaptation by regional development plans such as the Water Energy Nexus and the Jordan Valley Master Plan, with an investment in broadening and deepening the understanding for the need of successful water diplomacy and cooperative solutions to deal with climate threats.
The GWN program combine a bottom up investment in education and capacity building, with a top down investment of financial and political resources to create the synergies for cooperation, and thinking about, debating, planning and building the institutional structures and regional governance needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change and the water, energy & food security risks.
GWN Phase IV: Building climate change resilience through youth education, capacity building for young professionals, and investments to enhance water, energy and food security in Jordan, Palestine, and Israel
Encouraging youth and young professionals to become agents of change for regional cooperation.
School Program
To give environmental education more visibility, EcoPeace is leading a school program that focuses on curriculum and lesson plan development and teachers’ training. The aim of this program is to train teachers to educate youth about the interdependent nature of water resources and environmental impact and the need for cooperation to solve national and cross-border water and environmental issues.
The curriculum was prepared building on the general topics existing in the curricula, to empower Palestinian youth and teach them how to apply these concepts in the local, economic and geopolitical environment.
In parallel to the school programs, Eco Palestine will focus on a select group of youth with the most potential to serve as impact multipliers and the highest commitment to implement Eco Palestine's vision in tangible ways. Eco Palestine is working on creating a continuous multi-layered “growth” track that can keep youth in its programs engaged into young adulthood and equip them with skills that can serve our vision, while at the same time providing tangible value to the participants in helping them enter the job market and become effective agents of change and regional cooperation.
The program combines a bottom-up approach of development in education and capacity building, with a top-down advocacy approach of financial and political resources to create the synergies for cooperation, to contribute to planning and building the institutional structures and regional governance needed to mitigating and adapting climate change and the water, energy & food security risks.
Neighbor path tours are also organized for youth to visit different water and to expose participants to the national and regional water realities.
Young Professionals’ Program
Since 2018, EcoPalestine and through the, GWN project is working on creating a continuous multi-layered “growth” track that can develop a cadre of young Palestinian leaders and professionals equipped with skills and tangible value to enter the job market and become effective agents of change and promote cooperative solutions to enhance water, energy and food security in Palestine and the region.
This track provides capacity building activities for young adults, university students, young water professionals, and young political leaders (21- 29-year-olds). The activities focus on developing the young adults’ skills such as communication, negotiation, and entrepreneurial skills.
The young adults will receive training focusing on new topics related to their field, access to networking and professional opportunities, and certificates. The program has two tracks: a water diplomacy track and a green social entrepreneurship track.
Water Diplomacy Track
EcoPeace’s program of Water Diplomacy for Young Professionals, started September 2018, addresses local climate induced challenges .
The program focuses on creating a leadership group of young professionals with knowledge on water reality, challenges and opportunities, as well as diplomacy and negotiation skills. The program aims at educating young professionals about the interdependent nature of water resources and environmental impact and the need for cooperation to solve water and environmental issues, while developing a cadre of young leaders and professionals to promote environment and water solutions.
The program focuses on capacity building activities for young professionals in the early stages of their careers: university students, young water professionals, young political leaders etc., aged 21- 35, focusing on a series of advanced three national training workshops, followed by regional training.
Green Social Entrepreneurship Track
This track targets environmental technology students, young entrepreneurs, young water professionals (21- 35 year olds). Students are targeted right before they formulate and create their own graduation projects.
Through this track, participants will be exposed to the possibilities and benefits of social entrepreneurship and encourage the development of innovative solutions to environmental challenges in the region.
Advocacy Projects
