{"id":6103,"date":"2023-08-24T14:15:13","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T14:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/?p=6103"},"modified":"2023-08-24T14:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T14:19:23","slug":"the-desert-around-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/en\/tourism_leisure\/the-desert-around-them\/","title":{"rendered":"The Desert Around Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe future is no longer here,\u201d declares the winning video of the competition hosted by the initiative, \u201cThe Desert Around Me.\u201d What exactly does this mean? As the video progresses, the intentions of its creators\u2014students from Sha\u2019ar Ha\u2019Negev middle school\u2014are elucidated.<\/p>\n<p>The video depicts the future of winged desert animals in Israel, such as the barn owl, partridge, and eagle, who if we are not proactive and wise in protecting them, in the future they will become a distant memory, seen only in nature museums. The students summed up their video with that precise sentiment: \u201cWe want nature \u2013 not taxidermy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u05d4\u05e1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05d6\u05d5\u05db\u05d4 \u05d1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d8 &quot;\u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9&quot;, \u05e9\u05d4\u05db\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5 \u05ea\u05dc\u05de\u05d9\u05d3\u05d9 \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05e9\u05e2\u05e8 \u05d4\u05e0\u05d2\u05d1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XjO8CiVhb2Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The creators of the video in question are participants in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.desert.isees.org.il\/\">\u201cThe Desert Around Me,\u201d<\/a> a new initiative from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isees.org.il\/?lang=en\">The Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Studies,<\/a> led by <a href=\"https:\/\/education.zavit.org.il\/\">Zavit in Education<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globe.gov\/\">The Globe Program<\/a>, an environmental education program of the Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection which is an initiative of NASA that is run by the center for scientific teleprocessing research in geological sciences at the University of Colorado. The new initiative seeks to raise awareness among Jewish and Arab teenagers, who live in the desert, about humans\u2019 impact on the desert landscape.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Desert Isn\u2019t Barren of Challenges<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The desert\u2019s ecological system is <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.co.il\/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=iAHnDAAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PP1&amp;dq=the+importance+of+the+desert+in+israel&amp;ots=OPjjgJf-N0&amp;sig=k6zKFhCziE3i_TGm3SPTXC7IFi0&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\">one of the most wonderous<\/a> in the world. The system is characterized by rare and wild nature, as well as the unique and reciprocal relationships between the creatures who live in it, creatures who have been conditioned to this arid terrain.<\/p>\n<p>The desert is not a foreign to the citizens of Israel; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kkl.org.il\/environmental_quality_combating_desertification\/\">approximately a half of our nation\u2019s land is a desert<\/a>, and in the last few years, our desert has gone through complex developments: The growing human presence in the area\u2014both residents and travelers\u2014has impacted the environment and damaged both the land itself and its habitants, plants and animals alike. This detrimental impact manifests itself in several ways; for instance, an <a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.isees.org.il\/?p=16277\">Israeli research<\/a> found that the light pollution in this region hurts the drinking habits of desert bats, thus negatively affecting these species.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;\u05ea\u05e9\u05de\u05e8\u05d5 \u05e2\u05dc \u05d4\u05db\u05d3\u05d5\u05e8&quot; - \u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d8 &quot;\u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9&quot;, \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05de\u05e0\u05d7\u05dd \u05d1\u05d2\u05d9\u05df - \u05d3\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FW2f9OAP4kE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In conjunction with manmade impact on the desert region, the climate crisis, which is altering the characteristics of vast and wide areas across the globe, may lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.isees.org.il\/?p=15868\">desertification<\/a>: a process in which a dry area turns even more arid; in such a case even animals who have been accustomed to desert conditions must readjust themselves to survive in an even more barren environment.<\/p>\n<p>These processes\u2014and the imperativeness of being aware of them\u2014birthed the initiative of \u201cThe Desert Around Me,\u201d in which took part some 200 middle schoolers from six different schools from various settlements: Dimona, Sha\u2019ar Ha\u2019Negev, Kiryiat Malachi, Abu Queider, Abu Talul and Abu Qrenat (the latter three being Bedouin villages).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6104\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-6104 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shooting-the-video-that-won-third-place.-Photo-by-Bar-Stefansky.jpg\" alt=\"Shooting the video that won third place. Photo by Bar Stefansky\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shooting-the-video-that-won-third-place.-Photo-by-Bar-Stefansky.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shooting-the-video-that-won-third-place.-Photo-by-Bar-Stefansky-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shooting-the-video-that-won-third-place.-Photo-by-Bar-Stefansky-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shooting-the-video-that-won-third-place.-Photo-by-Bar-Stefansky-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shooting-the-video-that-won-third-place.-Photo-by-Bar-Stefansky-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cWe wanted to expose these students to information about the desert terrain they live in&#8221;. Photo by Bar Stefansky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The program focused on core environmental issues on the subject of: the relationship between the climate crisis and the desert, the process of desertification, hunting, poisoning and the effect of invasive species on the region, the presence of travelers in the desert, and mass events such as festivals and concerts\u2014generating waste, air pollution, noise pollution and more. The students dove into each of the issues, watched lectures given by experts and researchers (who also live in the desert), and eventually received film and editing lessons which enabled them to create their video projects on these subjects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to expose these students to information about the desert terrain they live in, to raise their awareness of the different processes taking place around them through lessons and meetings with scientists from the field, and encourage them to be actively involved in helping their surrounding habitat,\u201d says Dikla Gish, the initiative\u2019s pedagogical coordinator, and a science and biology teacher and administrator at Irony H school in Haifa. \u201cOur goal is for the students to spread and make this information accessible to the general public, particularly with fellow teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Desert Belongs To All Of Us<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Towards the end of the program, video creators, Yaron Ben-Horin and Bar Stefansky, ran film workshops for the students with the purpose of giving them the tools to make the short videos pertaining to the subjects they learned about, such as waste in public spaces, desert animal preservation and more.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d8 &quot;\u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9&quot; \u2013 \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d1\u05d5 \u05e7\u05d5\u05d9\u05d3\u05e8\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DZaHxituorg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an initiative that addresses diverse populations and enables them to obtain the tools necessary to induce change,\u201d claims Stefansky, a video creator from Creative Change. \u201cIn the workshops, we taught the students how change can be made in a community and improve its quality of life\u2014using video; for instance, the group of teenagers that won third place in the competition, whose living surrounding accumulated a vast amount of waste, created a video in Arabic about the matter, which could raise awareness among residents of the area and may even influence decision makers to put in place the infrastructure for a waste disposal system in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Meeting in the Desert<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>One of the program\u2019s core characteristics is combined learning: the students, Jewish and Arab, met twice in events that allowed the participants to bond over shared issues. \u201cThe thing that brings us all together in the program is the desert \u2013 as a living place,\u201d says Adi Levy, a formal educator in the <a href=\"https:\/\/pop.education.gov.il\/sustainability-education\/sustainability-education-programs\/globe-program-environmental-education\/\">Globe Israel<\/a> program for environmental education and the coordinator of the program. \u201cThis initiative created collaborative opportunities and connections between Jews and Arabs; students from Dimona and Sha\u2019ar Ha\u2019Negev formed relationships with Bedouin students who live several kilometers away from them\u2014a connection that probably wouldn\u2019t have happened otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The effect created by the program can be summed up by Anas Abu Ashiba, a student at Abu Qrenat A middle school. \u201cMaking the video about preserving the desert landscape was a fascinating experience for me,\u201d he says. \u201cWe learned about values of nature preservation and the importance of protecting the variety of species unique to the desert. The program provided me with tools that helped me understand that we must work together to preserve the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This ZAVIT Article was also published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/magazine\/article\/ryg1t0hin\">Ynetnews<\/a> on 8 June 2023<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe future is no longer here,\u201d declares the winning video of the competition hosted by the initiative, \u201cThe Desert Around &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":6122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"acf":[],"post-meta-fields":{"_edit_lock":["1719758624:182"],"_edit_last":["166"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_oembed_ef853a733ce841f961792fab14605e3a":["<iframe title=\"\u05d4\u05e1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05d6\u05d5\u05db\u05d4 \u05d1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d8 &quot;\u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9&quot;, \u05e9\u05d4\u05db\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5 \u05ea\u05dc\u05de\u05d9\u05d3\u05d9 \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05d4\u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05e9\u05e2\u05e8 \u05d4\u05e0\u05d2\u05d1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XjO8CiVhb2Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>"],"_oembed_time_ef853a733ce841f961792fab14605e3a":["1692886160"],"_oembed_6216e76d926d33f47135c69d329437ad":["<iframe title=\"&quot;\u05ea\u05e9\u05de\u05e8\u05d5 \u05e2\u05dc \u05d4\u05db\u05d3\u05d5\u05e8&quot; - \u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d8 &quot;\u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9&quot;, \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05de\u05e0\u05d7\u05dd \u05d1\u05d2\u05d9\u05df - \u05d3\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FW2f9OAP4kE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>"],"_oembed_time_6216e76d926d33f47135c69d329437ad":["1692886170"],"_oembed_b602f044b9d9b0645955267fd7434c22":["<iframe title=\"\u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d8 &quot;\u05d4\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e1\u05d1\u05d9\u05d1\u05d9&quot; \u2013 \u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d1\u05d5 \u05e7\u05d5\u05d9\u05d3\u05e8\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DZaHxituorg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>"],"_oembed_time_b602f044b9d9b0645955267fd7434c22":["1692886195"],"_thumbnail_id":["6122"],"subtitle":["What happens when Jewish and Arab teenagers meet in the middle of the desert, and decide to make movies? In a new initiative, \u201cThe Desert Around Me,\u201d the young residents of the wilderness encountered the scorching issues of their terrain. Here are the outcomes"],"_subtitle":["field_59d3d36ea7fe1"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6103"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6128,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6103\/revisions\/6128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zavit.org.il\/intl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}