NOTEBOOK
1
Eft
Study Centers Take
Israelis To The Field
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33A
FRIDAY, OCT. 9, 1987
Jerusalem — A network of
26 Field Study Centers
(FSCs) presently exists in
Israel to help meet the coun-
try's needs in developing en-
vironmental education pro-
grams and promoting nature
conservation projects. Func-
tioning semi-autonomously
within the larger parent
organization, the Society for
the Protection of Nature in
Israel (SPNI), each of these 26
centers is located in one of the
dramatically
varied
geographical
regions
throughout Israel. Each
center focuses its instruction
on the unique characteristics
of the surroundings, with the
emphasis on climatic and
geologic conditions, flora and
fauna, history and
archaeology.
FSCs serve over 400,000
people annually. In addition,
most centers provide hostel
accommodation for 120-200
persons and utilize learning
facilities such as classrooms,
laboratories and special
media equipment. When com-
bined with actual field study,
participants in FSC programs
experience a total involve-
ment with their locality,
thereby providing them with
an excellent opportunity to
experience directly what they
have learned.
The idea for Field Study
Centers began back in 1959
when Yossi Feldman, an
Israeli guide with a Bedouin-
like knowledge in the ways of
the desert, took over a few
ramshackle huts at the Ein
Gedi oasis and began taking
people on hikes through the
Judean Desert. At the huts,
where the guests camped,
Yossi related the cultural and
geological history of Ein Gedi.
As Yossi's tours grew in
popularity, the then recently
established Society for the
Protection of Nature in Israel
considered it a credible means
of furthering nature conser-
vation and made Yossi and
his hikes part of its work.
Meanwhile, in the lush
Mediterranean scrub forest of
Mount Meron in the Upper
Galilee, another veteran
guide, Yoav Sagi, founded a
similar hiking and study
base, with an old abandoned
bus serving as the first hostel.
The Field Study Centers
are geared primarily toward
group education, providing
in-the-field knowledge of the
particular region to a broad
spectrum of youth and adults.
Israel's school system coor-
dinates carefully with the
Study Centers and, as a
result, almost every pupil in
the country spends at least
one week every year at a dif-
ferent FSC.
For elementary age
children, study programs
begin in their local surroun-
dings and as students mature,
instructional programs in-
clude hikes and field trips
throughout the land. For the
older students, outdoor clubs
in schools, organized by FSC
instructors, meet on a regular
basis to increase their
knowledge about their own
region. Study Centers also
hold summer camps and day
programs for local children,
which include hiking, bird-
watching, cave exploring, etc.
NEWS
Israel, China
Hold Meeting
New York (JTA) — In an
unprecedented meeting last
week between the Foreign
Ministers of the People's
Republic of China and Israel,
it was concluded that con-
tacts between representatives
of both countries will con-
tinue in the future.
The meeting between
Shimon Peres, Israel's
Foreign Minister, and his
Chinese counterpart, Wu
Xuegian, was the first
meeting ever between the
Foreign Ministers of China
and Israel. China and Israel
have no diplomatic ties and
China has been a strong sup-
porter of the Arab side in the
Arab-Israeli conflict.
The meeting between the
two officials took place at the
Chinese Mission to the
United Nations, and lasted
almost two hours. Although
representatives of China and
Israel have met in the United
Nations in the last few
months, the Peres-Xuegian
meeting was the highest level
of contact between China and
Israel. Moreover, the Chinese
publicly announced the meet-
ing and allowed photograph-
ers to take pictures of the two
officials at the end of their
meeting.
Why Work?
Tel Aviv (JTA) — If you can
believe it, most Israelis work
for the love of it, not the
money. Haaretz reported that
according to a poll conducted
by Mina Zemach of the Dahaf
Institute, only two percent of
the 1,140 Israelis interviewed
admitted they worked only to
earn money.