April 8, 2021
Dear members of the University community,
Sustainability at the Hebrew University
A common definition of sustainability is the desire to enable the continued existence of the entire current generation of human society, in a state of well-being, while maintaining and even improving the standard of living for future generations. One of the great and burning challenges we face is the realization of sustainability in the face of climatic conditions that are changing rapidly right before our eyes, and given the unwise use of the earth's resources made in recent generations. In recent years, there has been a widespread understanding around the world of the critical importance of sustainability, and there is increasing activity to promote it. Many leading universities have mobilized impressively to promote sustainability.
There is quite a bit of ongoing activity on the subject of sustainability at the Hebrew University, including many research projects that touch on the subject of sustainability, in teaching, and in sustainability projects across the various campuses. However, we believe that the current activity does not sufficiently reflect the importance of this issue and its urgency for Israel and the world. We believe that academic activity in the field of sustainability should be made a central goal of the University. In order to advance our activities in this field, the University management has decided to act on two levels:
1) Establishment of a general University research center for sustainability, whose role is to significantly increase sustainability research and teaching at the University, and sustainability activities in Israel.
2) A significant increase in sustainability projects on the various campuses.
The Hebrew University Center for Sustainability
Extensive research activities related to the issue of sustainability are already being conducted on each of the University’s various campuses, and a number of research centers related to sustainability are also operating at the University. In addition, the Advanced School for Environment Studies offers master’s degree programs, and there are additional teaching programs connected to sustainability. Moreover, many members of the University community promote the issue of sustainability at the national level. The establishment of the University Center is intended to expand, refine and aggregate all activities in the field of sustainability as an interdisciplinary, general field at the University, in accordance with the challenges we face. One of the goals of the new Center is to significantly increase research activity on sustainability issues, while vigorously encouraging collaborative research activity of researchers from various disciplines of sustainability. As a first step, the Center will soon announce calls for proposals for funding of research that will advance sustainability issues, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and inter-campus collaborations. Another of the Center’s important goals is to promote and assimilate sustainability beyond the University’s boundaries. The Center will work to encourage various activities and projects and promote public mobilization for sustainability in the community and the country. The Center will also work to increase cooperation with government officials, the civil society, the private sector and industry, and organizations for the promotion of research, policy and implementation in Israel and around the world. Prof. Yael Mishael from the Faculty of Agriculture has been elected to serve as the Center's director, and alongside her, an academic committee consisting of representatives from all of the University’s campuses has been appointed. The Center will also house fellows and graduate students at the University. Initially, the Center's activities will be funded by the University, which has allocated about one million dollars to the Center. Concurrently, we are working to raise significant external funds to continue the Center's activities. Our intention is that the Center will be the anchor and catalyst of sustainability research and teaching at the University. In June 2021, an international conference will be held for the official launch of the Hebrew University Center for Sustainability.
We call on you, members of the University faculty and staff, from all fields of research, to examine ways to integrate aspects related to sustainability into your academic and public activities. We all have a paramount social and public responsibility to make a scientific contribution to tackling the great challenge facing humanity at this time
Sustainability Activities Across the University’s Campuses
Today there is a wide range of activities that encourage sustainability on the various campuses. The University has long maintained a “Green Campus” committee, headed by Prof. Nadav Katz, which has initiated and promoted sustainability-related activities. For example, the new buildings on the various campuses are being built according to strict environmentally-friendly building standards. We now intend to initiate a series of measures to increase sustainability-friendly activity, including:
1) Increasing the use of renewable energies. An extensive array of solar panels that use solar energy to generate electricity has already been installed on the Mount Scopus campus. To date, about 1,200 kilowatts of photovoltaic systems have been installed, spread over about 12,000 square meters on the roofs of buildings on campus. These systems produce about 2 million kWh per year for us, and their monetary value - which is the savings on our electricity bill - reaches about 1 million NIS per year. This is the largest installation among all of the academic institutions in Israel. We are currently carrying out a tender for the installation of solar panels on the Safra and Rehovot campuses (in a scope of about 400-600 kilowatts). We also promote energy savings in high energy-consuming systems. The most significant move is the switch to Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems for the cooling systems in University buildings. This transition will produce very significant energy savings.
2) Gradual discontinuation of the use of disposable utensils. The University administration has switched fully to the use of reusable utensils. We would like to encourage all units to move in this direction. For any unit that is interested, we will fund reusable utensils and additional direct costs associated with using reusable utensils. Our long-term intention is to eliminate the use of disposable utensils.
3) Wise use of transportation. In the short term, we are taking symbolic actions. For example, from now on, the University will only purchase hybrid cars, and when possible, we will switch to using electric cars. We have set up a limited number of parking spaces for electric cars, and we intend to add more such parking spaces as demand for them increases. As we all know, a light rail network that will connect all the campuses in Jerusalem is now being constructed. Our long-term goal is to encourage, and even provide a financial incentive for, the use of public transportation once it is ready.
We assume that we all understand the immense importance of promoting sustainability. The Hebrew University is committed to leading the promotion of the issue using all means at our disposal.
Best regards,
Prof. Asher Cohen, President
Prof. Barak Medina, Rector
Mr. Yishai M. Fraenkel, Vice- President and Director General