AMMAN | Twenty Jordanian Seeds traveled to the Sharhabil Bin Hassneh Ecopark on November 28 for a briefing on environmental peacebuilding with EcoPeace–Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME).
FoEME brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists and activists to work toward sustainable regional development and to promote the necessary environmental conditions for lasting peace in the region.
The seminar began with a presentation by Liza Kawar, the Good Water Neighbors/Youth Coordinator at FoEME. She explained how resources are shared in Israel, Jordan and Palestine, the reasons for and implications of the deterioration of the Jordan River, and the status of the agreements concerning the Jordan River Rehabilitation Project.
Many of the participants were unaware of the long-term water challenges facing Jordan.
“I never knew about these issues,” said one of the Seeds. “The presentation gave me a lot of new information that I want to share with my friends so we can make changes in how we save water in our homes.”
In the next session, campers were exposed to FoEME’s faith-based campaign to rehabilitate the Jordan River. The organization is engaging community partners by illuminating how all three Abrahamic faiths historically perceive water use and the Jordan River. The campaign utilizes citations from religious and holy books to garner support for rehabilitation initiatives.
In the afternoon, FoEME gave a presentation on advocacy campaigns in environmental activism. The campers learned about how to implement an effective awareness campaign.
Participants were then separated into groups and tasked with developing a short campaign. They had to identify the target group of the campaign, decide on a media format through which they would convey their message, and script the message itself. The three groups produced creative presentations with messages about conserving water and protecting the environment.
“The part of the program where the Seeds had to design a campaign helped them to really reflect on the internal dynamics within Jordanian society,” said Seeds of Peace’s Middle East Program Director Donna Stefano.
“One of the tasks included identifying the target group for the campaign and there were many interesting discussions about how the youth perceive environmental issues, their ability to impact change, and how different classes of Jordanian society can respond differently depending on their education and financial abilities.”
ENVIRONMENTAL PEACEBUILDING