Israel and Oil Spills?

As the world watches the disaster that is taking place in the Gulf of Mexico, there are a few events happening closer to Israel that are worth taking note of.

In the last week its been reported that there has been an oil spill in the Egyptian Red Sea that was not as contained as the Egyptian authorities initially claimed. While the spill does now appear to have been stopped, the Egyptian government has most likely not been entirely honest about the amount of oil spilled in the pristine coral reefs and marine areas of the Red Sea. With such close proximity to Israel this is an issue that should be of more concern to Israelis.

In recent years Israel has found enormous gas deposits in its northern waters. While a potential economic boon to the economy, I would hope that the Gulf and Red Sea spills would serve as a warning to the government about the potential ecological disasters that can happen. There needs to be strong safety regulations in place so that we don't have to read similar headlines in Israeli papers to those all over the US for the past few months since the Gulf spill began.

LeadEarth

Israel and Oil Spills?

The World Cup and Development

The World Cup is in full swing right now and as the world turns to South Africa to see the best football players in the world there is another, non-sports related, side to the global spectacle. South Africa has invested billions of dollars to prepare the country to host the event, and there are many long term benefits and potential drawbacks to this investment.

In Cape Town alone one stadium cost US 600 million dollars to build to international standards. Infrastructure projects have can have a positive impact on a country, but with the World Cup most of the money goes towards sports stadiums that have little impact on the country's economy after the event. Beyond that, in a country as poor as South Africa it can be easily argued that there is a better use of the money in a myriad of different projects.

The Olympics, not only the World Cup, has its detractors. Brazil will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. One third of Brazilians live on just more than a dollar a day and to think of the billions that will be invested can lead to a lot of second guessing as to how wise the money is being invested.

On the other side of the coin, there are many infrastructure projects that are performed that do have lasting impacts. Roads and transportation are built and improved. Energy projects are beefed up, and millions of money is poured into cities to clean them up. All of these things can improve the lives of the citizens in the long term. It is also difficult to measure the impact that the pride of hosting the World Cup has on a population.

The World Cup is no doubt an incredible event and the South Africans have put on a great show so far. These events are important for a country, but maybe there needs to be planning done to see how to maximize the event for the long term benefit and development of the host country, especially when countries in the third world host these events.

LeadEarth

The World Cup and Development

Social Entrepreneurship Sustainability

A few weeks ago on the roof of a building in Tel Aviv overlooking the entire city skyline a group a dozen former participants in Adam LeAdam's Backpackers program met for a reunion. The Backpacker's program is designed to give Israeli travelers in India a way to contribute to the communities they view primarily as a tourist. They spend a few weeks in Tamil Nadu helping the community through programs they in part design themselves, so that the volunteerism is more personal and meaningful.

 Adam LeAdam program participants

The reunion was a chance for old friends to meet up again, have a drink, watch a slideshow, but there was one other aspect I think was the most important part of the evening. At one point one of the participants asked Uri and Yarden, Adam LeAdam's founders, "what's next!?" One of the tenets of the program is sustainability and it wasn't clear to her what they're supposed to do now, having all returned to Israel, to continue and sustain the work they had done in India. One of the goals of the program is not just to set up program in India that the local communities can continue once the volunteers have left, but rather to have the Israeli participants continue to be social entrepreneurs back in Israel. Yarden and Uri went on to explain that they want the Backpackers participants to continue to meet in Israel and design their own sustainable social entrepreneurship program in Israel.

Tamil Nadu, India

It was a light bulb moment, where the participants realized that it was in fact their own personal growth, and not necessarily the the environment and educational projects they had implemented in India, that was the key to the Backpackers program. It will be interesting to see what the group implements here in Israel and what the LeadEarth participants are able to continue in their home communities upon returning. This social entrepreneurship sustainability is one reason that LeadEarth is really a step above in terms of innovation in the volunteer world.

Finally, John Wooden passed away yesterday. I grew up, and am still, a huge UCLA Bruins basketball fan, and have an enormous respect for the man and his accomplishments. Here's a very good article that touches at the core of who he was.

- LeadEarth

Social Entrepreneurship Sustainability

Sustainable agriculture is big business and What's on the roof?

This blog focuses on the phenomenon of solar panels to heat water in Israel and the increasing interest from venture capital firms in sustainable argiculture...

Its nice to see Israel get some credit worldwide for its technological innovations, let alone environmentally friendly ones as well. This interesting article points out how South Africa can adopt Israel's use of solar panel technology to heat water to save on energy costs. The "dud" or solar panel driven water heaters is becoming something of an iconic image for Israel. Almost every building is littered with solar panels and water tanks on the roof, and its a source of pride for the country.

The state of almost every roof in Israel

How can Israel help export the adoption of solar panel heated water heaters elsewhere in the world, especially places that are not connected to electricity grids or are not sufficiently connected to the grid? Its a project LeadEarth can potentially invest in the Sadhanna Forest location in Tamil Nadu, India.

“Sustainable agriculture is a space that looks as big or bigger than clean tech"

That's quite a statement, yet that's what one venture capitalist thinks and many are starting to take notice. The New York Times profiled one such venture that is is linking those in the sustainable agriculture field to venture capitalists. NewSeed Advisors is scouring the market trying to help those with ideas for products to advance sustainable agriculture find the funding they need.

Israel is actually a pioneeer in sustainable agriculture technologies with companies such as Netafim creating some of the first irrigation systems and fertilizer propogration systems that enable proper irrigation and enable the farmer to save water in the process. These technologies, that are relatively inexpensive, can have a huge impact on developing world farmers and agriculture. Another thing for the LeadEarth participants to think about when they build their projects.

A Netafim irrigation tube helps this vineyard properly get water and save water at the same time

Finally, remember check out the new Masa LeadEarth website!

Sustainable agriculture is big business and What's on the roof?

New Website Design is Live

The brand new LeadEarth website is now live! Check out the great new design and please let us know you think.

New Website Design is Live

India-Israel Cooperation

Israel and India have very strong relations today. This blog will explore different aspects of the cooperation and relationship between the different countries in a variety of sectors. As environmental and agricultural awareness and education is a key element of the LeadEarth program we will examine the environmental and agricultural cooperation between the countries in today's post.

While olives are most closely associated with the Mediterranean region, an Israeli initiative is hoping to make India a major player in the olive industry. Israel is credited with making their Negev desert bloom, and now Israelis are trying to "green" the desert region of Rajasthan in Northern India. Through a combination of irrigation, wastewater treatment, and agricultural technologies the aim is to make India an exporter of olive oil by 2011. 

Can Israeli technologies make the desert bloom again?

  

Israel and India recently signed an agreement to promote increased scientific cooperation and development between the two countries. Not surprisingly, renewable energy initiatives was one of the main focuses of the initiative. Israel is now one of the world's leading developers of renewable energy technologies through a large variety of companies, and India is just one of many markets that can benefit from these technologies. 

Although not related to the environment or agriculture, this fun blog posts relates on tourists experience with Israeli cuisine...in India and is worth checking out!

LeadEarth

India-Israel Cooperation

A Jewish Heart for Africa

From time to time this blog will spotlight other organizations doing humanitarian work very in the spirit of Tikkun Olam. One such group is A Jewish Heart for Africa, an organization improving the lives of Africans through the implementation of electricity and agricultural technologies.

The majority of the small towns and villages throughout Africa do not have satisfactory connections to electricity grids, if at all. A Jewish Heart for Africa (AJHFA) decided to help alleviate this situation by installing solar panels to provide electricity to communities without connection to the primary electricity grids. While Africa lacks many things, one thing they have plenty of is sun. What makes A Jewish Heart for Africa unique is that they use Israeli solar panel companies equipment to bring power to these villages. To date AJHFA has provided over 100,000 people electricity that previously did not have it or only sporadically. This electricity is used to power schools, clinics, and homes.

Personally, it brings me a lot of pride as an Israeli to see technology developed in this country being used to help the less fortunate in Africa. I think AJHFA has a very similar mindset to that of LeadEarth as both organizations' goals are to improve the lives of the local populations they deal with.

LeadEarth

A Jewish Heart for Africa