From May 15th to May 31st 2016, the Arava Institute held its fifth Renewable Energy training program in cooperation with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. The course was part of the ongoing work of the Arava Center for Sustainable Development (ACSD), and utilized the extensive knowledge of the Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC).
The seven women and seventeen men who were chosen to attend represented fifteen countries from the developing world: Kenya, Ghana, Colombia, Uzbekistan, India, Nigeria, Tanzania, Nepal, Panama, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Barbados, Ecuador and Ethiopia. The participants were mid-level professionals, working for government, non-governmental organizations, decision-making bodies, academia and the private sector.
The workshop exposed participants to renewable energy technologies used in Israel and the world on both large and small scales. It included lectures and informal conversations with leading researchers, lecturers and entrepreneurs. The group also toured a variety of renewable energy projects in the southern Arava region, the Negev and in the Jordan Valley. Highlights of the seventeen-day course included a three-part workshop on Community Development and Project Development & Management, a full day workshop on bio-gas technologies, and the final ceremony at the offices of Energiya Global in Jerusalem, attended by the Director of MASHAV’s training programs, Ambassador Mattanya Cohen.
The participants left the Arava Institute inspired and equipped to advance renewable energy projects in their own countries.
We congratulate the newest graduates, and would like to thank the responsible staff members – Dr. Shmuel Brenner, Suleiman Halasah, Tali Adini, Abby Lutman and Carmel Lutman – for implementing another extremely successful course.
Submitted by Tali Adini
