This is the kind of school I always wanted to go to. It is a group of scholars in the classical sense of the word and I’ve met people who I hope to be friends with for the rest of my life.
By living, learning and exploring together, students form friendships and develop skills that will enable them to lead the region in solving environmental challenges facing the Middle East and beyond through partnership and mutual understanding.
The Arava Institute offers an accredited university-level semester or yearlong program for both undergraduate and graduate students. Students take courses in diverse environmental fields, engage in peace-building and environmental leadership seminars, and partake in educational field trips — all with a diverse student population hailing from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and beyond.
Students at the Arava Institute explore a range of environmental issues from an exceptional transboundary and interdisciplinary perspective. Under the guidance of leading environmental professionals and academics, students take between four to five courses in both the natural and social environmental sciences. Courses focus on the areas of water management, renewable energy, ecology, sustainable agriculture, environmental politics, and more. Students can also pursue an independent research project in the framework of a 3-credit elective independent study course. All courses are taught in English.
Academic credit from recognized academic institutions is available, and students will receive official transcripts from academic institutions.
Featured Course | Global Resource Geopolitics: Natural Resource Development and Conflict
In a time of multiple environmental and political crises, it is especially important to understand how global resource geopolitics shape our lives in ways big and small. This introductory course equips students with the tools they need to understand the relationship between conflict, natural resources, and the effects of this relationship on development, peace, and security.
Read our latest student publication from this course taught by Dr. David Lehrer—the Journal of Global Resource Geopolitics. This compilation of eight papers provides a great introduction to some of the most pressing resource issues of our time:
Read the Journal of Global Resource Geopolitics
Interdisciplinary Environmental Academic Program
The Arava Institute is at the forefront of environmental studies and research in the Middle East. The Arava Institute offers students an opportunity to explore a range of environmental issues from an exceptional transboundary and interdisciplinary perspective. Under the guidance of leading environmental professionals and researchers, students maintain a full course-load in environmental studies that focus on water management, renewable energy, ecology, sustainable agriculture, environmental politics, and more.
DIVERSITY + MULTICULTURALISM
The Arava Institute offers students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse themselves in a cross-cultural environment with others who are equally passionate about building a more sustainable future. Together, our students and interns are comprised of approximately one third Jewish Israeli; one third Arab, including Palestinians from the West Bank, Jordanians, and Arab citizens of Israel; and one third international students, primarily from North America. No other program in the Middle East brings together students from such varied political, cultural, and religious backgrounds to live, study, and learn from one another for a semester or a full academic year. In this multicultural setting, students form personal connections and develop skills that enable them to lead their communities to address today’s most pressing environmental challenges.
PEACE-BUILDING and ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
At the Arava Institute students and interns participate in one of the most open and honest conversations happening in the Middle East, while gaining essential professional skills and cultural literacy.
In line with the Arava Institute’s mission to generate capacity building for conciliation, cooperation, and environmental change, all students participate in a weekly Peace-building Leadership Seminar and an Environmental Leadership Seminar. In these seminars students engage in dialogue exploring issues of culture, religion, identity, environmental activism, and the current political situation, while developing competencies in intercultural understanding, empathy, and environmental leadership.
Both the Peace-building Leadership Seminar (PLS) and the Environmental Leadership Seminar (EL) build on the conviction that the social and political relationships within and between groups in the region have a significant influence on environmental practices, public policies, and grassroots environmental activism. Both seminars take advantage of the Arava Institute’s own community as a microcosm of the region, building the tools and understanding necessary to foster environmental sustainability, social justice, and respect in the broader society. Every student, no matter the country of origin, has the opportunity to contribute significantly to this ongoing dialogu
