A "Green Campus" Forum was founded in Israel on the occasion of the Green Campus ceremony held in the Ministry of Environmental Protection on June 15, 2010. The Forum includes the Ministry of Environmental Protection and a wide array of higher education institutes, both universities and colleges, which been certified as Green Campuses. The aim of the new Forum is to promote the environment in universities and colleges in Israel. Four universities and colleges were certified during the June ceremony: Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Kibbutzim College, Hadassah College Jerusalem and the College of Management in Rishon LeZion. The campuses were certified green due in recognition of their environmental activities in different areas, including integration of environmental courses in different tracks, promotion and implementation of resource efficiency programs, community activities and outreach. "Green Campus" Forum The aim of the newly founded "Green Campus" Forum is to serve as a discussion platform on means of assimilating a sustainable lifestyle and imparting knowledge on the environment and sustainability to all students in higher education institutes. The Forum will meet several times a year and will allow for an exchange of information, deliberations on means of tackling problems and overcoming obstacles and spearheading the environment on campuses throughout the country. It will serve as a lever for expanding the number of campuses which deal with the environment, deepening and broadening the environmental field within campuses, developing a system for the certification of persevering green campuses. Green Campus Certification The Ministry of Environmental Protection has certified green educational institutes (including schools, kindergartens and campuses) since 2003. To date, hundreds of schools have been certified green, with dozens more in the process. Moreover, 17 institutes of higher learning in Israel have been certified as green campuses, each of which promotes environmental awareness in unique ways. Achievements of Israel's Newest Green Campuses - Ben Gurion University : Excelled in the implementation and advancement of two ongoing community projects; allocated 15,000 shekels as a prize to three community environmental projects; established a green website; introduced a system of separation of waste at source and its collection.
- Kibbutzim College : Introduced two programs for an academic degree in the environment, in addition to a range of courses and lessons on the environment. The new programs take a comprehensive approach to tackling fundamental problems on the environment and advance the training of future teachers on the environment.
- Hadassah College Jerusalem : Excelled in its concrete actions on behalf of the environment and in its efforts to conserve and save resources including reduced chemical use in laboratories, reduced electricity consumption by means of sensors, minimized laws to achieve water savings. etc.
- The College of Management Academic Studies: Excelled in integrating environmental content in a variety of existing courses and introducing an environmental leadership program targeted at environmental leaders in the college, including employees, lecturers and students; established a center for environmental-social responsibility which will deal with developing and teaching the subject of the environment in the School of Business Administration.
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