INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL PROGRAM - ISRAEL – ____________________________________________________________

NATIONAL REPORT ON IHP RELATED ACTIVITIES

1. General Activities of the Israel National Committee for Hydrology are sponsored by the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology. The present Chairperson of Israel IHP is Prof. Daniel Ronen from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. The Israel IHP Committee operates under the aegis of the Israel National Commission for UNESCO. The members of the Bureau of the Israel National Committee for Hydrology are: Prof. Eilon Adar (Ben Gurion University of the Negev); Mrs. Pnina El Al (Ministry of Foreign Affairs);Prof. Gedeon Dagan (Tel Aviv University); Dr. Joseph Guttman (Mekorot-Israel National Water Co.); Ing. Shalom Goldberger (Ministry of Health); Prof. Joel Gat (Weizmann Institute of Science); Dr. Gabriel Weinberger (Israel Hydrological Service); Mr. Roni Adam (Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Dr. Ehud Simon (TAHAL); Dr. Alon Rimmer (The Kinneret Limnological Laboratory); Prof. Raphael Semiat (GWRI, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology); Prof. Avner Adin (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Dr. Arie Pistiner (Ministry of Environmental Quality); Mr. Avner Furshpan (Director, Climatology and Agro-Meteorology, Israel Meteorological Service); Prof. Hillel Rubin (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology); Prof. David Sharon (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Prof. Haim Gvirsman (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Dr. Abraham Melloul (Israel Hydrological Service) and Dr. Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf (Ben Gurion University of the Negev).

______________________________________________________________________________ Daniel Ronen, Chairperson, International Hydrological Program of UNESCO, Israel Ben - Gurion University of the Negev Tel: 972-8-6596901; Fax: 972-8-6596909; E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL PROGRAM - ISRAEL – ____________________________________________________________

2. Activities undertaken in the period July 2010 – May 2012 2.1 Prof. Daniel Ronen was invited by ANAM (National Authority of the Environment of Panama) as a key-note speaker to the II Forum of Environmental Education held in Panama between the 27th to 29th of October, 2010. On this occasion he presented the Blue Planet methodology and the needed requirements to incorporate it in Panama. The agenda included a special meeting with the IHP of Panama (CONAPHI) where the following topics were discussed: a) how to strengthen activities related to water education in Panama, b) technology and developments in irrigation and management of solid waste, c) recuperation of water sources in the Arid Area of Azuero.

2.2 A Workshop for the transfer of “The Blue Planet” methodology was held in Santiago, Chile on January 2011. The Workshop was organized by: • • • • •

The Water Authority of Chile (“Dirección General de Aguas de Chile”) The National Initiative for Hydro Efficiency (“Iniciativa Nacional de Eficiencia Hidrica”) of the Water Authority of Chile The IHP National Committee of Chile The Israel National Commission for UNESCO, and The Israel IHP National Committee

In Israel, the activity was made possible thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Weizmann Institute of Science, The Agricultural Research Organization, the Israel Water Authority and UNESCO - Israel. An invitation to the Workshop was prepared and circulated in Chile by the Water Authority of Chile (Fig. 1). The workshop was held in the Santiago branch of the University of Talca, in Santiago de Chile, between the 3th and the 7th of January, 2011, with the participation of 35 ______________________________________________________________________________ Daniel Ronen, Chairperson, International Hydrological Program of UNESCO, Israel Ben - Gurion University of the Negev Tel: 972-8-6596901; Fax: 972-8-6596909; E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL PROGRAM - ISRAEL – ____________________________________________________________

professionals from Chile (most of them teachers), two participants from Costa Rica and 4 instructors from Israel: Prof. Nir Orion, Dr. Orit Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Prof. Jorge Hugo Lemcoff and Prof. Daniel Ronen.

Fig. 1. Invitation to the Blue Planet Workshop – Chile, January 3 – 7, 2011

2.3 We finalized with great success a third “Latin America – Israel Collaboration” knowledge-transfer workshop entitled “The Blue Planet Earth Systems Approach (BEPESA) for the Study of Water Related Systems”. The workshop, held in Chaco, Argentina, was organized by: • • •

Gobernación del Chaco, Argentina Administración Provincial del Agua (APA), Chaco, Argentina Consejo Hídrico Federal (COHIFE) , Argentina

______________________________________________________________________________ Daniel Ronen, Chairperson, International Hydrological Program of UNESCO, Israel Ben - Gurion University of the Negev Tel: 972-8-6596901; Fax: 972-8-6596909; E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL PROGRAM - ISRAEL – ____________________________________________________________

• • • • •

Subsecretaria de Recursos Hídricos, Argentina Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología, Argentina La Comisión Nacional del Uruguay para la UNESCO The Israel National Commission for UNESCO The Israel IHP National Committee

In Israel, the activity was made possible thanks to the fruitful collaboration between the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Israel Water Authority and UNESCO - Israel. The workshop was held in the Universidad Popular (UP), in Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina, between the 14th and the 18th of November, 2011, with the participation of 18 professionals from Uruguay and 39 professionals from Argentina (most of them teachers) and 4 instructors from Israel and USA: Prof. Nir Orion, Dr. Molly Louis Yunker (USA), Prof. Jorge Hugo Lemcoff and Prof. Daniel Ronen.

2.4 The Israel National Committee for Hydrology presented (December 2011) to the Head of the Israel Water authority a document analyzing the needs for: 1) increasing and strengthening the number of professionals working in water related areas, and 2) increasing Israel’s international cooperation activities on water related teaching programs.

2.5 The English version of “The Blue Planet - The Water Cycle in Earth Systems” has been published (May 2012) under the sponsorship of UNESCO (Fig. 2). This is the culmination of the first step in the globalization program of a novel teaching methodology for the junior-high school level. The methodology was developed at the Science Teaching Department of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel by Dr. OritBen Zvi Assaraf under the educational and scientific leadership of Prof. Nir Orion and Prof. Daniel Ronen. ______________________________________________________________________________ Daniel Ronen, Chairperson, International Hydrological Program of UNESCO, Israel Ben - Gurion University of the Negev Tel: 972-8-6596901; Fax: 972-8-6596909; E-mail: [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL PROGRAM - ISRAEL – ____________________________________________________________

This venture was triggered by the translation, in 2007, of “The Blue Planet” from Hebrew to Spanish under the sponsorship of the late Eng. Pedro Dondisch, President of the Mexican Association of Friends of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. The English translation was possible thanks to the devoted work of Dr. Molly Yunker at the Science Teaching Department of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. This is a first step in the accomplishment of a dream for a better future and a better world for the coming generations on this planet.

Fig. 2. Cover page of the English version of “The Blue Planet”. ______________________________________________________________________________ Daniel Ronen, Chairperson, International Hydrological Program of UNESCO, Israel Ben - Gurion University of the Negev Tel: 972-8-6596901; Fax: 972-8-6596909; E-mail: [email protected]