Prof. Rassem Khamaisi and Prof. Deborah Shmueli

Main objectives of the Project are

Capacity building and raising the awareness of community residents to issues and rights with regard to urban planning, housing and city services, shared public spaces and what contributes to a sense of belonging.  This is to serve as a platform for collective actions for conflict management.   Currently there are a multitude of  individual and sub-group  initiatives on issues such as zoning, however the collective capacity building is critical for expanding those initiates to meet the needs and interests of a wider portion of the community – including those with less of a voice. Increasing the knowledge of residents on planning  issues will  improve attitudes towards dealing with the municipal and planning systems; it will contribute to social peace and security; it will promote the residents’ understanding of their mutual  right to the City; and it will reduce the level of  tension in general by making the people aware of  opportunities to  obtain co-existence through identification of  shared interests as an understanding of differing interests and possible tradeoffs among the City’s sub-groups.

 

Provide collaborative urban planning  consultation (with the guidance of professional planners and facilitators) for  specific cases in the different neighborhoods, with an aim to  encourage community involvement in shaping and producing their desired city environment.

Empower existing grassroots groups who already command trust within the community to take more effective roles in the neighborhoods and in the city as a whole to carryout activities that will strengthen  social life and community engagement.

Introducing the at-large community of Akko who are not directly targeted by the project to the concepts and issues supported by the project through the development and utilization of accessible means of information dissemination and outreach.