During the launching event, attended by around a hundred civil society leaders and citizens of Haifa, Club de Madrid Programs Coordinator Rubén Campos gave a presentation about “How to promote equitable development and Shared Societies” at the city level as part of an ongoing cooperation with Shatil and the Shared Societies Project.The 500-page book includes Club of Madrid Commitments and Approaches to Shared Societies and The Economics for Shared Societies Guiding Principles translated to Hebrew and sections on international models for shared, egalitarian cities; as well as chapters specific to Haifa on planning, inter-community relations, employment and the economy, politics and protest, education, culture, and urban memory as well as photographs.
Established after the second Lebanon war, which exposed the fragility of the city’s claim to be a ‘model of co-existence’, the project has studied international models of managing diversity in cities in conflict, and suggested ways to improve the situation in Haifa. “We were looking for ways to make Haifa a shared city, and not just a mixed one,” said Rolly Rosen, editor of the book and coordinator of project. Haifa – Between Reality and a Vision for a Shared City, written in Hebrew with the introduction translated into Arabic, Russian and English and chapter headings in those languages plus Amharic. Shatil is an NGO established in 1982 to strengthen civil-society entities and promote democracy, tolerance, and social justice in Israel. Each year, Shatil provides almost 1,500 nonprofit organizations with consulting services, training, coalition-building assistance, and general support. Shatil also reaches out to disadvantaged populations – such as new immigrants, Arab Israelis and residents of development towns – to help them realize their rights and play an active role in determining the policies that affect their lives.
More information available here: http://www.shatil.org.il/english/news/
