The Technion, through its Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, has completed the development of a marine plan for Israel’s territorial waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean Sea. The initiative stemmed from the understanding that Israel’s marine area is a vast spatial resource, larger than the size of Israel’s land territory, and holds countless opportunity – while it is also very vulnerable and threatened by the many needs and changes taking place in the Mediterranean as well as by global changes. The Israel Marine Plan (IMP), completed in November 2015, offers a comprehensive policy for protecting Israel’s marine space and balancing the different stakeholders involved. This is achieved though offering a vision, goals and policy measures in various areas, as well as proposing policy principles for managing the marine space. To read the Israel Marine Plan click here.
On the 9th of November 2015 the Ashdod International Sustainability Conference took place in Ashdod, Israel. The conference tended to the connection between the sea, the coast and the city. The Israel Marine Plan representatives, headed by international advisory committee member Charles (Bud) Ehler and team leader Shamay Assif, took a central part in the conference, in which the Israel Marine Plan was first presented to the public! To see photographs from the conference see our Facebook page. See Charles Ehler’s lecture (in English) here.
“The marine area will be an integral part of the Israeli space and an essential component of its future economic well-being, environmental resilience and social and cultural development for the benefit of its residents, guests and future generations. This will be achieved through the implementation of integrative governance that is ecologically balanced and participatory, the sustainable use of marine resources, the enhancement of the marine landscape and heritage, the promotion of marine research and knowledge, and through the realization of international responsibilities and cooperation.”
This vision has been determined taking into account the unique characteristics of the Israeli marine space and its natural, economic and cultural values, and sets the general framework according to which the plan goals, policy measures and management policy recommendations were made.