The Negev region populates marginalized communities who need strengthening and empowerment. Those are mainly concentrated in the Negev's "development townships" and Bedouin villages. The "Plannery" initiative is expected to benefit those communities by integrating students in community planning activities, characterization of community's needs, preparation of plans and planning alternatives, and making project's portfolios in different communities. The initiative ambition is to promote deep understanding of and commitment for improving the well-being of the Negev marginalized communities among students. As part of the initiative, scholars from a variety of fields will cooperate with students and diverse communities within the Negev region; all will work with direction from Dr. Yodan Rofè, the field manager.
The "Plannery" put emphasis on few issues: identification and promotion of, and responding to community-based initiatives, provision of professional support to local governments with environmental and sustainability planning practices, bringing issues of distributive justice and social aspects of planning on the agenda at different spatial and organizational scales. Different activities will take place to promote all issues of concern, such as: planning courses and hand-on experience through workshops and field work for MA planning students, professional-academic guidance of communities, cooperation with local, regional and national NGOs. The "Plannery" function in concordance to Ben-Gurion University's commitment to contribute the development of the Negev. As such it strives to form a local center equipped with knowledge, tools, and trained professionals, to enable continuous projects through the stages of initiation, planning, budgeting, establishment and assimilation.
