Israel Workshop on Environmental Dispute Resolution (1999)

In January 1999, CONCUR Principal Scott McCreary joined a team of international experts as a presenter and facilitator at the first-ever national conference on Environmental Dispute Resolution in Israel. The workshop, sponsored by the Neiman Center at Technion University in Haiffa (Yona Shamir, Director) was convened at the Maale Hahamisha Kibbutz Guesthouse, just outside of Jerusalem. Prior to the conference, McCreary conducted a series of site visits with colleagues to gain a better understanding of land use conflicts in the coastal zone from the Lebanese border to Haiffa and Tel Aviv. Other foreign participants in the workshop were Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Environmental Planning at MIT, Michael Elliot, Professor of Planning at Georgia Tech, and as well as Frans Evers, and Paul de Jong, both leading practitioners from the Netherlands. Each presenter emphasized the use of mediation for a different type of substantive environmental dispute: Dr. McCreary’s presentation emphasized use of mediation to resolve coastal land use disputes. Then, he worked in facilitated sessions on a specific marina proposal near Tel Aviv, and then in plenary sessions. The conference attracted between 125 and 150 participants, including representatives of the Justice Ministry, Environment Ministry, Interior Ministry, and senior representatives of major municipalities. The conference is regarded as a major catalyst for the emerging practice of mediation in Israel.