Workshops
Nava Y. Sheer
Urban Planner
Nava Sheer is an urban planner serving as the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Coordinator at Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights in Jerusalem. Born in Bristol, Pennsylvania, Nava moved to Israel in 1997.
She has held numerous positions in the fields of economic development, transportation planning and community organizing in the United States and Israel. Nava holds a master's degree in urban planning from Hunter College and a bachelor's degree in political science from Yeshiva University.
At Bimkom, Nava manages the organization's mapping systems, for its projects in affordable housing, urbanism and social justice, Arab Communities in the North and Center, East Jerusalem, Area C of the West Bank, and Negev Bedouin. Nava also advises her colleagues on transportation planning related matters for Bimkom's advocacy projects.
OSM (Open Street Maps) Mapathon project is designed to map Palestinian communities in Area C of the West Bank. It will enhance recognition of the communities in their current locations, discourage dislocation, promote infrastructure like electricity and water and services like clinics and schools, and pave the way to sustainable development.
In recent years there has been an intensification of demolitions and confiscations of Palestinian structures of unrecognized Area C Palestinian communities. In the shadow of escalating threats of displacement, we seek to advance virtual recognition of Area C communities that both raises awareness of these communities’ visibility and substantiates their legitimate claim to their territorial and spatial use. The mapping of the villages will also assist NGO's and development organizations to further understand the needs of the population.
Self-mapping is not simple for any community .... There are technological limitations (computers, knowledge, network connection ...), conceptual limitations (understanding the importance of mapping, collaboration, fear of exposure, communication) and subjective limitations. But if villagers see that others have recognized them and mapped part of their community, they get a boost and are compelled into action.
Eytan Shouker
Interdisciplinary Artist
Eytan Shouker was born in Israel, 1963. Shouker is an interdisciplinary artist who creates large-scale projects related to culture, politics, social issues, and community. He harnesses his extensive theoretical knowledge to create works of art that masquerade as video press coverage or advertisements. He also creates art exhibits that revolve around controversial issues related to the structure of the Israeli art world. In 1997, Eytan initiated The Pen Pal Project- his first communal art project, in partnership with Mohamed Judah from the Palestinian Peace Movement. It based on distribution of 500 disposable (film) cameras to 250 Palestinian and 250 Israeli youths, all of whom used the photos they took to tell their personal story to a pen pal on “the other side”. A postcard correspondence between each pair of pen pals continued for more than a year. An exhibit based on the project was held in the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Europe, the US and Australia.
Shouker is engaged in cultural policy research and has published several studies and reports on Israel culture policy. In 2014, he founded the YouTube Pyramid Channel and developed a television-like format of articles relating to the politics and sociology of culture and the arts.
He is a Senior Lecturer and faculty member in the Photography Department at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem. Founder of the course Art and Activism in the Public Space, which initiated at 2004. eytan@shouker.co.il
DR. Orli Ronen
Urban Planner
DR. Orli Ronen is the head of the Urban Innovation and Sustainability Lab, at the Porter School for Environmental and Social Studies, Tal Aviv University. The Lab is a cooperation between the Porter school and Tel Aviv Municipality, enabling graduate students to work directly with policy actors in local authorities, helping them use environmental data to devise new sustainability programs and policies for their local area. Previously, she headed the Heschel Center for Sustainability, one of Israel's leading environmental and social NGO's. She founded the Heschel Center's Local Sustainability Center, a joint project with the Porter School, the Ministry of the Environment and ICLEI. Dr. Ronen drafted Israel's National Report to Habitat III, and the Tel Aviv Yafo Declaration on Civic Engagement and Smart Cities, which is part of the Habitat III New Urban Agenda. Since 2018, she is the thematic consultant for Urban Climate Adaptation for the National Climate Adaptation Administration. Ronen is also the thematic focal point for ICZM at the Israeli Coastal Authorities Forum. Orli's research and policy interests include; transition to sustainable and smart urban communities, climate adaptation, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, resiliency, and expansion of local democratic mechanisms. She holds a PhD in Urban Planning from Tel Aviv University and a Master' Degree in Public Administration as well as a Master's in Business Administration. She participated in the TedexJaffa in 2017 and is the 2009 recipient of the Green Globe for Local Sustainability. orlironen@gmail.com